Editing Yitzhak Shamir (section)

==Illness and death==
[[File:Shamir1803.JPG|thumb|Yitzhak Shamir's coffin [[lying in state]] in the [[Knesset]], July 2, 2012]]
In 2004, Shamir's health declined, with the progression of his [[Alzheimer's disease]], and he was moved to a nursing home. The government turned down a request by the family to finance his stay at the facility.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-2995233,00.html |title=מדוע לא תממן המדינה אשפוז סיעודי לשמיר? |work=Ynet | place=IL |language=he |trans-title=Why won't the state fund nursing care for Shamir? |date=26 October 2014|last1=מרסיאנו |first1=אילן }}.</ref>

Shulamit Shamir died on July 29, 2011.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/146231 |title = Israel national news| date=30 July 2011 }}</ref> Less than a year later, Yitzhak Shamir died on the morning of June 30, 2012,<ref>{{Citation |title=Yitzhak Shamir, former Israeli prime minister, dies at 96 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/yitzhak-shamir-former-israeli-prime-minister-dies-at-96/2012/06/30/gJQA1s68DW_story.html |access-date=17 March 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=30 June 2012}}</ref> at a nursing home in [[Tel Aviv]] where he had spent the last few years<ref name="YNETNEWS20120630">{{Citation |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4249308,00.html |title=Former PM Yitzhak Shamir dies at 96|last=Somfalvi|first=Attila|newspaper=Ynetnews|date=30 June 2012|publisher=Ynet |access-date= 30 June 2012}}</ref> as a result of the Alzheimer's disease<ref name="ynet" /> he had suffered since the mid-1990s.<ref name="aljas" /> He was given a [[state funeral]], which took place on July 2 at [[Mount Herzl]], Jerusalem,<ref name="ynet" /> and was buried beside his wife, Shulamit,<ref name="aljas" /> who had died the previous year.<ref>{{Citation |title=Yitzhak Shamir, Former Israeli Prime Minister, Dies at 96 |author=Joel Brinkley |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/world/middleeast/yitzhak-shamir-former-prime-minister-of-israel-dies-at-96.html?pagewanted=all |date=June 30, 2012}}</ref> As his body was [[lying in state]] [[Speaker of the Knesset]] [[Reuven Rivlin]] laid a [[wreath]] on his coffin and said:<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/spokesman/eng/PR_eng.asp?PRID=10532 |title=Knesset |place=IL |last=Rivlin |first=Reuven}}.</ref>
{{blockquote |You're cast stone, Isaac, unbreakable. Bearing on your shoulders the burden of this nation the past and the future. Remembering in your heart the ashes of the crematoria and the hope of redemption. Nothing could distract you out of your way. Iron tools and weapons of destruction could not touch you, could not threaten you. Flattery, bribery, and double talk—were never on your tongue, were not part of your language. Only one small weakness relentlessly gnawed at you. Only one small weakness managed to break through the solid rock to carve the stones, and build from them the foundations to establish the kingdom of Israel. It was love: Your love of this persecuted people; your love of the homeland of our fathers, of the land of eternity; your love of your children, your home; your love of your Shulamit. ... Sir, commander of Israel's Freedom Fighters, my man, Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, my honored Prime Minister of Israel and an eternal soldier. On my behalf, on behalf of your friends and subordinates; on behalf of the congregation of Israel, on behalf of anonymous soldiers, in the service of the country and in the underground; in the name of the State of Israel, we bow our heads to you. You were dedicated to the people all your life, and now 'from duty be released only by death.' In a few hours we'll say our goodbyes, when you'll be interred in the ground of Jerusalem, the ground of this good land, for which you have lived and fought.}}

Shamir was buried at [[Mount Herzl]].

===Commemoration===
Israeli President [[Shimon Peres]] said that "Yitzhak Shamir was a brave warrior for Israel, before and after its inception. He was a great patriot and his enormous contribution will be forever etched in our chronicles. He was loyal to his beliefs and he served his country with the utmost dedication for decades. May he rest in peace."<ref name="ynet" /> Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement upon hearing of his death that read: "[Shamir] led Israel with a deep loyalty to the nation. [The Prime Minister] expresses his deep pain over the announcement of the departure of Yitzhak Shamir. He was part of a marvelous generation which created the state of Israel and struggled for the Jewish people." This was despite previous feuds between the two once-Likud members.<ref name="aljas">{{Citation |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/06/2012630182037576207.html |title=Middle east |date=2012-06-30 |publisher=Al Jazeera}}.</ref> He was also mourned in the Knesset.<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/spokesman/eng/PR_eng.asp?PRID=10532 |title=Knesset |place=IL}}.</ref>

Foreign Minister [[Avigdor Lieberman]] added that Shamir "contributed greatly to the foundation of the state, which he served his entire life with loyalty and unwavering dedication. He set an example in each position that he held. I had the privilege to be personally acquainted with Shamir, and I will always remember him and his great contribution to the state;" while Defense Minister [[Ehud Barak]] said: "His whole life, Shamir was as stable as granite and maintained focus without compromises. He always strived to ensure Israel's freedom. His devotion knew no bounds [and he] always sought what's right for the people of Israel and for the country's security."

[[Leader of the Opposition (Israel)|Leader of the Opposition]] and [[Labor Party (Israel)|Labor Party]] head [[Shelly Yachimovich]] offered her condolences to Shamir's family saying that <blockquote>... he was a determined prime minister who dedicated his life to the state. He followed his ideological path honestly and humbly, as a leader should. The citizens of Israel will always remember the wisdom he demonstrated during the First Gulf War. He showed restraint and saved Israel from undue entanglement in the Iraq War. This decision proved to be a brave and wise act of leadership.
</blockquote>
His daughter Gilada Diamant said: <blockquote>[My father] belonged to a different generation of leaders, people with values and beliefs. I hope that we have more people like him in the future. His political doing has undoubtedly left its mark on the State of Israel. Dad was an amazing man, a family man in the fullest sense of the word, a man who dedicated himself to the State of Israel but never forgot his family, not even for a moment. He was a special man.<ref name="ynet">{{Citation |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4249308,00.html |title=Ynet News |newspaper=Ynetnews |date=30 June 2012 |place=IL|last1=Somfalvi |first1=Attila }}.</ref></blockquote>