Zalman Shazar (1889-1974), politician, author, poet, journalist, and Israel's third president, appears on the obverse of the NIS 200 banknote of series I of the New Sheqel. Shazar's lifelong preoccupation with education is reflected by the appearance of pupils in an elementary school class. During his tenure as minister of education he managed to reform Israel's education system, culminating in the compulsory education law of 1949, stipulating that each child between age 3 and 18 must receive compulsory education. Today, education in Israel is not only compulsory, but also free until completion of secondary school.
The reverse of the banknote shows the interior of the Abuhav Synagogue and an alley in the ancient Galilee town of Safed, mentioned in Shazar's writings