A former chairman of the
Likud youth council, in 2002 Shama became chairman of the party's Ramat Gan branch. The following year was elected onto the city council, where he held the environment portfolio. He was also a member of the city's audit commission, where he triggered a police investigation into mayor
Zvi Bar over property deals. For the
2009 Knesset elections Shama won twenty-fifth place on the Likud list, the place reserved for youth candidates. He entered the Knesset as the party won 27 seats. Prior to the
2013 elections Shama was placed 32nd on the joint Likud
Yisrael Beiteinu list, losing his seat as the alliance won only 31 seats. Although he returned to the Knesset in June 2014 as a replacement for
Reuven Rivlin after he was
elected President, Shama resigned on 6 August 2014 after becoming Israel's envoy to the
OECD,
UNESCO and the
Council of Europe. He was replaced in the Knesset by
Alex Miller. In the
2018 municipal elections Shama was elected mayor of Ramat Gan, unseating incumbent
Yisrael Zinger. ==Personal life==