Ya'akov Shimshon Shapira | |
|---|---|
יעקב שמשון שפירא | |
 | |
| Ministerial roles | |
| 1966–1972 | Minister of Justice |
| 1972–1973 | Minister of Justice |
| Faction represented in theKnesset | |
| 1951–1955 | Mapai |
| 1969–1974 | Alignment |
| Other roles | |
| 1948–1950 | Attorney General |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1902-11-04)4 November 1902 |
| Died | 14 November 1993(1993-11-14) (aged 91) |
Ya'akov Shimshon Shapira (Hebrew:יעקב שמשון שפירא; 11 April 1902 – 14 November 1993) was an Israeli jurist andLabor Zionist politician.
Shapira was born in Yelisavetgrad in theRussian Empire (nowKropyvnytskyi,Ukraine) in 1902. He studied in aYeshiva and later studied medicine at theUniversity of Kharkiv. He was an activeLabor Zionist and was incarcerated for his activism from 1923 to 1924. In 1924, heimmigrated to theBritish Mandate of Palestine and joined a "Conquest of Labor" group inPetah Tikva, where he worked as an orchardman. He was one of the founders ofkibbutzGiv'at HaShlosha. He was secretary ofAhdut HaAvoda inJerusalem and a member of the Jerusalem workers' council.[1]
He studied law at theHebrew University and was certified as a lawyer.
In 1934 he moved toHaifa to practice law, and ran an office there until 1948. He represented theHagana and other groups before the Mandate authorities. After the establishment of the State of Israel he became the Director General of theJustice Ministry, and was Israel's firstAttorney General from 1948 to 1950.[1]
In November 1948 he headed an officialinvestigation into allegations ofIDF attacks on civilians.[2]
In 1951, he was elected to the secondKnesset forMapai, and was a member of the House and Constitution, Law and Justice committees. In the third Knesset he was also chairman of the Mapai faction. In 1955, he retired from the Knesset due to allegations that his involvement in the oil business was inappropriate for a workers' party representative. In 1966 to 1973 (except for a short period in 1972 during which he was replaced byGolda Meir), he was Minister of Justice. In 1969, he was elected to the seventh Knesset for theAlignment and was once again a member of the Constitution, Law and Justice committee.[1] As Minister of Justice, he opposed theannexation ofEast Jerusalem after theSix-Day War, preferring the application of military rule.[3][4] He also opposed a governmental plan to transfer subject Arabs to other countries, saying: "They are inhabitants of this land, and today you are ruling over it. There is no reason to take Arabs...and transfer them to Iraq".[5] Following theYom Kippur War, he resigned from the government after his demands to fireMinister of DefenseMoshe Dayan were denied.[1]
|  | |
|  | |
* entire or partial tenure as substitute justice minister, until a replacement was found | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
