Yizhar Nitzan Shai (Hebrew: יזהר ניצן שי; born 16 July 1963) is an Israeli entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and politician.

In 1981 he started his national service in the Israel Defense Forces, joining the Paratroopers Brigade and serving in the 1982 Lebanon War.

His first proposed bill as an MK was to increase Israel's research and development spending to 0.8% of the country's total annual budget, in line with most OECD nations.

After leaving politics, Shai joined venture capital fund Disruptive AI as a partner in May 2021 and led the firm's seed investment in Spiritt in May 2022.

[1][6] Shai is chairman of Israel Acquisitions Corp, a SPAC registered in the Cayman Islands, which announced plans in March 2022 to raise $200 million on the Nasdaq to merge with an Israeli tech company.

[3] His son Yaron Uri Shai, 21, a soldier in the Nahal Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, was killed in action during the October 7 attack while engaged in combat in the vicinity of kibbutz Kerem Shalom.