Shmuel Tamir

1923 -

Israeli politician and attorney.

Shmuel Tamir was born in Jerusalem as Shmuel Katsnelson. He was influenced by the 1929 Hebron massacre, during which sixty Orthodox Jews were murdered by Arab rioters. The rioters were themselves reacting to a demonstration by Jews who demanded access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, At age fifteen he joined Irgun Zvaʾi Leʾumi. He was arrested in 1947 and deported to Kenya, where he was allowed to take his final law examinations. Returning to Israel after it became a state, he changed his name to Shmuel Tamir (his underground name) and was active in the Herut movement, where he was viewed as a natural heir to Menachem Begin.

He established a reputation as an outstanding attorney and was involved in some well-known cases, including the Kasztner trial in 1954, in which Reszo Kasztner brought suit against Malkiel Grunwald, who had accused Kasztner of being a traitor and causing the deaths of many Jews by negotiating with the Nazis. As Grunwald's attorney, Tamir framed the trial as being about Kasztner rather than Grunwald. The judge, Benjamin Halevi, accepted most of Tamir's arguments and accused Kasztner of having "sold his soul to the devil." Before the verdict was handed down, Kasztner was murdered by nationalist extremists who took Halevi's words literally. In the end, the court exonerated Kasztner on all charges except that he had helped Nazis escape from justice.

Tamir was a member of sixth through ninth Knessets, representing several different parties, including Gahal, the Free Center, Likud, and the Democratic Movement for Change. In 1977, when Tamir joined the Democratic Movement for Change, he was appointed minister of justice under Begin. In 1981, he left politics and returned to his legal practice.

Bibliography

Bell, J. Bowyer. Terror out of Zion: Irgun Zvai Leumi, LEHI, and the Palestine Underground, 1929 - 1949. New York: St. Martin's, 1977.

"Kasztner, Reszo." Museum of Tolerance. Available from http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/text/x12/xm1230.html.

Segev, Tom. The Seventh Million: The Israelis and the Holocaust, translated by Haim Watzman. New York: Hill and Wang, 1993.

— JULIE ZUCKERMAN
UPDATED BY GREGORY MAHLER

Shmuel Tamir
Date of birth	10 March 1923
Place of birth	Jerusalem, Mandate Palestine
Date of death	29 June 1987 (aged 64)
Knesset(s)	6, 7, 8, 9
Party	Independent (1981)
Former parties	Gahal (1965-1967) Free Centre (1967-1974, 1976-1977) Likud (1974-1976) Dash (1977-1978) Democratic Movement (1978-1981)
Gov't roles (current in bold)	Minister of Justice

Shmuel M. Tamir (Hebrew: שמואל תמיר‎, born Shmuel Katzenelson on 10 March 1923, died 29 June 1987) was a prominent Israeli independence fighter, lawyer, Knesset member from 1965 to 1980, and Minister of Justice in the government of Menachem Begin from 1977 until 1980

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Irgun 1.2 Post-independence 2 Personal life 3 References

Biography

Irgun

Born in Jerusalem, Katzenelson joined the Irgun in 1938 and after the declaration of the Revolt in February 1944, and took part in operations against British targets, most notably the 26 February 1944 attack on income tax offices in Jerusalem.^[1][2] During 1946 he served as Deputy Commander of the Jerusalem District and was in charge of the Irgun Intelligence unit in Jerusalem.

He was arrested by the British several times, and in March 1947 was exiled to Detention Camps in Africa where he finished his Law studies. In the camp he served as the Supervisor who represented the detainees to the British Authorities.

Post-independence

Katzenelson returned home with the last exiles from Kenya on July 12, 1948, after Israeli independence was declared; upon arriving in Israel, he adopted his code name, Tamir (meaning "tall and slender") as his legal name. He had a notable career as a lawyer and conducted several famous political cases, including the Yedidya Segal and Rudolf Kastner trials.

He was one of the founders of Menachem Begin's Herut party, but left in 1952. He returned to the party in 1964, and in 1965 was elected to the Knesset on the Gahal list.

In 1966 he was expelled from the party, and together with two others, formed the Free Centre. He was re-elected in 1969, and again in 1973, by which time the party had merged into Likud. He resigned from the Knesset in January 1977, and soon after joined the new centrist party, the Democratic Movement for Change (Dash). He was returned to the Knesset in the 1977 elections on Dash's list, and was appointed Minister of Justice in the Begin government. As Dash disintegrated, Tamir joined the Democratic Movement, before leaving to sit as an independent MK. He resigned from the cabinet in August 1980, and lost his seat in the 1981 election.

Personal life

Shmuel was the son of Reuven Katzenelson (a member of the Jewish Legion and Joseph Trumpeldor's sergeant and companion in the Battle of Gallipoli) and Batsheva Katznelson (a member of the Knesset). His uncle was Joseph Katzenelson, a companion of Ze'ev Jabotinsky and one of the Irgun's two Chiefs of Illegal Immigration and Avraham Katznelson, one of the signatories of the Israeli declaration of independence.

References

1. ^ Shmuel Tamir Irgun website
2. ^ Shmuel Tamir Knesset website

v • d • e Justice Ministers of Israel Rosen (1948-51) · Yosef (1951-52) · Cohen (1952) · Rosen (1952-56) · Ben-Gurion (1956-58) · Rosen (1958-61) · Yosef (1961-66) · Shapira (1966-72) · Meir (1972) · Shapira (1972-73) · Meir (1973-74) · Zadok (1974-77) · Begin (1977) · Tamir (1977-80) · Nissim (1980-86) · Moda'i (1986) · Sharir (1986-88) · Meridor (1988-92) · Libai (1992-96) · Ne'eman (1996) · Netanyahu (1996) · Hanegbi (1996-99) · Beilin (1999-2001) · Sheetrit (2001-2003) · Lapid (2003-04) · Livni (2004-06)* · Ramon (2006) · Sheetrit (2006)* · Olmert (2006)* · Livni (2006-07) · Friedmann (2007-09) · Ne'eman (2009-) * entire or partial tenure as Substitute Justice Minister, until a replacement was found

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