Prior to his business career, which started in 1995, Shimon Sheves had a rich political career during which he served first as advisor and political and personal aid to the late Yitzhak Rabin when he was Minister of Defense, and after his election as Prime Minister, Shimon Sheves served as chief of staff and General Director of his office. Shimon Sheves brings to the business world a unique knowledge and understanding of political mechanisms that comes only from inside experience.

For a time Shimon Sheves served as coordinator on Kibbutz Afik in the southern Golan Heights and was active in the Golan Settlements Committee. From this to Chairman of the Golan Economic Development Company was almost a natural progression of events. In this position Shimon Sheves’ projects contributed significantly to the financial development of the northern part of Israel. This also gave him an introduction to politics and government.

When the late Yitzhak Rabin became Minister of Defense, Shimon Sheves became his advisor and personal aide. During this period Shimon Sheves assumed responsibility for the national infrastructure, with particular emphasis on areas of national priority and the settlements. When Rabin decided to enter the race for Prime Minister, his close friend and confidante, Shimon Sheves, took on the role of his campaign manager. The credit belongs to Sheves for developing the political strategy that the Labor Party adopted and that later led to their first election victory in some 25 years. On being elected Prime Minister, Rabin expressed his gratitude to Shimon Sheves by appointing him general director and Chief of Staff. While holding this position Shimon Sheves was responsible for the implementation of several large, national scale infrastructure projects. In his eulogy at Rabin’s funeral Shimon Sheves spoke of his “friend and mentor”, of how they had started working together a dozen years before, and since then their ways had not parted.

1995 was a year of change for Shimon Sheves and he decided to take advantage of the management and strategy skills that he had developed and make a move from the public to the private sector. He undertook the management and operations of large infrastructure projects, and his business skills and success earned him a solid reputation and respect in this field, as well as in public management.

Currently Shimon Sheves serves as Chairman of RSLB Partners, of which he is also a co-founder. With its headquarters in Washington DC, RSLB focuses on presenting Israeli businesses to US markets. RLB provides its companies with a variety of services from market definition and positioning to product management and accounting. The services are offered to a variety of industries including biotech, government agencies and hi-tech.

Shimon Sheves studied at the University of New Haven, graduating with a degree in business and public administration. Sheves has also completed several courses given by the US Department of Defense in national and international defense.