Haim-Moshe Shapira (Hebrew: חיים משה שפירא, 26 March 1902 – 16 July 1970) was a key Israeli politician in the early days of the state's existence.

A signatory of Israel's declaration of independence, he served continuously as a minister from the country's foundation in 1948 until his death in 1970 apart from a brief spell in the late 1950s.

[1] In 1922 he started work as a teacher at an ultra-orthodox school in Vilnius, and also served on the board of the Mizrachi group in the city.

[1] He and all other NRP ministers resigned from the cabinet in July 1958, marking the only spell he spent out of office during his time in Israel.

After the state was founded, he supported giving a hundred thousand Palestinian refugees the option to return to Israel in exchange for a peace accord.

Shapira was the most vocal of the ministers opposing a pre-emptive Israeli attack before the Six Day War.

Despite his moderate worldview, he acted to include the right wing parties in the government on the eve of the war.

After the war, Shapira voiced support for the settlement movement but warned that future peace agreements would be based on territorial concessions.

When the pupils of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook expressed indignation at his moderate worldview, he replied, "we should not distance ourselves from our few friends in the world".

He cited the opinion of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, who said that questions of territorial concessions should be decided by those who are experts in the fields of defense and national security.

Ben-Gurion was wounded in his hands and foot by shrapnel, Carmel suffered a broken arm, Meir was treated for minor injuries.