To the ceremonial blare of a ram's horn, Israel's third President was sworn into office last week. He was Schneor Zalman Shazar, 73, a balding, bespectacled scholar of Jewish history. The country's first Minister of Education, he was elected by the Knesset to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Izhak Ben-Zvi last month.
Russian-born Shazar emigrated to Palestine via Central Europe during the '20s,*was hand-picked for the job by an old political crony, Premier David Ben-Guri-on. Shazar has another important qualification. As Ben-Gurion puts it, he is "a man without enemies."...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
