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| - We look back at the prime ministers of the Jewish state since its foundation in 1948: Long-time Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion read out Israel's declaration of independence in a ceremony on May 14, 1948 that established the new state. Prime minister up to 1954, he returned to power again from 1955 to 1963. A visionary and leading figure in the Mapai, forerunner of the left-wing Labor Party, Ben-Gurion established main institutions of the future Israel including the Histadrut trade union and kibbutz system of collective villages. Premier from 1954 to 1955 in between Ben-Gurion's two terms, Sharett was considered a moderate and encouraged diplomacy with neighbouring countries. Prime minister between 1963 and 1969, he governed during the Six-Day War of 1967 that radically changed the map of the Middle East, with Israel seizing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem and Syria's Golan Heights. Eshkol died suddenly of a heart attack in office aged 73. One of the signatories of the declaration of independence, she was prime minister from 1969 until 1974. A strong and inflexible personality, she famously said "there is no Palestinian people". Her time in power was marked by a 1973 war sparked by a surprise attack by Egypt and Syria that Israel was only able to defeat after setbacks that caused severe losses. The first native-born Israeli head of government, Rabin entered politics after a long military career. He took over from Meir and stepped down prior to the 1977 elections which swept the right-wing Likud to power for the first time. He returned for a second tenure in 1992. He was joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, a year after his historic handshake with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the signing of the Oslo agreements with the Palestinians. He was assassinated in 1995 by a Jewish right-wing extremist. Founder of the Likud party and prime minister from 1977 to 1983, Begin was a firm Zionist but who also sought peace with Israel's neighbours. He negotiated the 1978 Camp David peace accords with Egypt and shared that year the Nobel Peace Prize with Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. Prime minister from 1983 to 1984 and 1986 to 1992, Shamir was a fervent nationalist and opposed to any territorial concession. However, he led Israel in negotiations with its Arab neighbours at the 1991 Middle East peace conference that followed that year's Gulf war over Kuwait. A hardliner who became an advocate of peace, Peres was a key political figure in Israel from its creation until the end of his presidential mandate in 2014 and considered the father of the Jewish state's nuclear programme. He was prime minister from 1984 to 1986, and 1995 to 1996. He was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 with Rabin and Arafat. Elected in 1996 at the age of 46, "Bibi" as he is popularly known, was the youngest prime minister in Israel's history. During his first stint in charge lasting until 1999, he set about putting the brakes on the Oslo peace process. Prime minister from 1999 to 2001, Barak came to power with ambitions to end the Arab-Israeli conflict and he withdrew the army from the Lebanese quagmire, but the Labor leader's term concluded two months after the start of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising. One of the most controversial military and political leaders of Israel, who was once known for his ruthlessness, Sharon was the defence minister behind the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. He was prime minister from 2001 to 2006 during which time he led the largest Israeli offensive into the West Bank since 1967. He also began the construction of a separation wall with the territory and reoccupied nearly all of it. Olmert was elected in 2006 as leader of the new Kadima party. He had been a key figure of the nationalist right but evolved to more moderate positions and accepted the creation of a Palestinian state. In 2008, facing corruption allegations he was forced to resign and was later convicted for graft. Uncontested champion of the Israeli right, Netanyahu returned as prime minister in 2009 and ramped up construction projects in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. He has clung to power through several conflicts and a long period of political turmoil. After four inconclusive elections in two years, centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid announced Wednesday he had garnered enough support, including from former Netanyahu ally Naftali Bennett, to finally oust the master political survivor. The longest serving premier in Israeli history, Netanyahu was indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of public trust in 2019, a corruption investigation that could put him in jail. His trial opened in 2020. acm-eab/fg/hc
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