The first foreign minister and second prime minister of Israel, Ukraine-born Sharett (originally Shertok) was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and one of the key negotiators of cease-fire agreements that ended the War of Independence. He led the political department of the Jewish Agency beginning in 1933. He founded the Jewish Brigade, an independent, national Jewish military formation that fought as part of the British army in World War II. He was honored with a portrait on the 20-shekel banknote.
