Menachem Begin

Menachem Begin מנחם בגין
6th Prime Minister of Israel
In office 21 June 1977 – 10 October 1983
President	Ephraim Katzir Yitzhak Navon Chaim Herzog
Preceded by	Yitzhak Rabin
Succeeded by	Yitzhak Shamir
Minister of Defense
In office 28 May 1980 – 5 August 1981
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Ezer Weizman
Succeeded by	Ariel Sharon
In office 14 February 1983 – 23 February 1983
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Ariel Sharon
Succeeded by	Moshe Arens
Personal details
Born	(1913-08-16)16 August 1913 Brest, Russian Empire
Died	9 March 1992(1992-03-09) (aged 78) Tel Aviv, Israel
Political party	Likud
Spouse(s)	Aliza Arnold (1939–82)
Children	Benny Begin Hasia Begin Leah Begin
Religion	Judaism
Signature

Menachem Begin ( listen (help·info); Hebrew: מְנַחֵם בֵּגִין; Polish: Mieczysław Biegun; Russian: Менахем Вольфович Бегин Menakhem Vol'fovich Begin; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Israel, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944, against the British mandatory government, which was opposed by the Jewish Agency. As head of the Irgun, he targeted the British in Palestine.^[1] He is the one responsible for orchestrating a failed assassination attempt on Germany's first post-war Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, which was discovered prior to being delivered to the chancellor. It detonated while a disposal expert attempted to defuse it, killing him and injuring two others.^[2]

Begin was elected to the first Knesset, as head of Herut, the party he founded, and was at first on the political fringe, embodying the opposition to the Mapai-led government and Israeli establishment. He remained in opposition in the eight consecutive elections (except for a national unity government around the Six-Day War), but became more acceptable to the political center. His 1977 electoral victory and premiership ended three decades of Labour Party political dominance.

Begin’s most significant achievement as Prime Minister was the signing of a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, for which he and Anwar Sadat shared the Nobel Prize for Peace. In the wake of the Camp David Accords, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, which was captured from Egypt in the Six-Day War. Later, Begin’s government promoted the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Begin authorized the bombing of the Osirak nuclear plant in Iraq and the invasion of Lebanon in 1982 to fight PLO strongholds there, igniting the 1982 Lebanon War. As Israeli military involvement in Lebanon deepened, and the Sabra and Shatila massacre, carried out by Christian Phalangist militia allies of the Israelis, shocked world public opinion,^[3] Begin grew increasingly isolated.^[4] As IDF forces remained mired in Lebanon and the economy suffered from hyperinflation, the public pressure on Begin mounted. Depressed by the death of his wife Aliza in November 1982, he gradually withdrew from public life, until his resignation in October 1983.

Biography

Menachem Begin was born to Zeev Dov and Hassia Biegun in Brest, a town then called Brest-Litovsk and part of the Russian Empire but today a part of Belarus, which was known for its Talmudic scholars. He was the youngest of three children.^[5] On his mother's side he was descended from distinguished rabbis. His father, a timber merchant, was a community leader, a passionate Zionist, and an admirer of Theodor Herzl. The midwife who attended his birth was the grandmother of Ariel Sharon.^[6]

After a year of a traditional cheder education Begin started studying at a "Tachkemoni" school, associated with the religious Zionist movement. At 12,^{[citation needed]} he joined the Zionist Socialist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair, but soon switched to Betar. At 14, he was sent to a Polish government school,^[7] where he received a solid grounding in classical literature, and gained a lifelong love of classical works, which he was able to read in Latin.^{[citation needed]}

Begin began studying law at the University of Warsaw in Poland where he learned the oratory and rhetoric skills that became his trademark as a politician, and viewed as demagogy by his critics.^[8] He graduated in 1935, but never practiced law. At this time, he became a disciple of Vladimir "Ze'ev" Jabotinsky, the founder of the nationalist Revisionist Zionism movement and its Betar youth wing.^[9] His rise within Betar was rapid: At 22, he shared the dais with his mentor at the Betar World Congress in Krakow. The pre-war Polish government actively supported Zionist youth and paramilitary movements. Begin's leadership qualities were quickly recognised. In 1937^{[citation needed]} he was the active head of Betar in Czechoslovakia and became head of the largest branch, that of Poland. As head of Betar's Polish branch, Begin travelled among regional branches to encourage supporters and recruit new members. To save money, he stayed at the homes of Betar members. During one such visit, he met his future wife Aliza Arnold, who was the daughter of his host. On 29 May 1939, one month after they met,^{[citation needed]} the couple married. They had three children: Binyamin, Leah and Hassia.^[10][11]

Living in Warsaw in Poland, Begin encouraged Betar to set up an organization to bring Polish Jews to Palestine. He unsuccessfully attempted to smuggle 1,500 Jews into Romania at the end of August 1939. Returning to Warsaw afterward, he left three days after the German 1939 invasion began, first to the southwest and then to Wilno.

In September 1939, after Germany invaded Poland, Begin, in common with a large part of Warsaw's Jewish leadership, escaped to Wilno (today Vilnius), then eastern Poland, to avoid inevitable arrest. The town was soon occupied by the Soviet Union, but from 28 October 1939, it was the capital of the Republic of Lithuania. Wilno was a predominately Polish and Jewish town; an estimated 40 percent of the population was Jewish, with the YIVO institute was located there. As a prominent pre-war Zionist and reserve status officer-cadet, on 20 September 1940, Begin was arrested by the NKVD and detained in the Lukiškės Prison. He wrote about his experience of being tortured in later years. He was accused of being an "agent of British imperialism" and sentenced to eight years in the Soviet gulag camps. On 1 June 1941 he was sent to the Pechora labor camps in the northern part of European Russia, where he stayed until May 1942. Much later in life, Begin would record and reflect upon his experiences in the interrogations and life in the camp in his memoir White Nights.

In June 1941, just after Germany attacked the Soviet Union, and following his release under the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement, Begin joined the Polish Anders' Army as a corporal officer cadet. He was later sent with the army to Palestine via the Persian Corridor, where he arrived in May 1942.^[12]

Upon arriving in Palestine, Begin, like many other Polish Jewish soldiers of the Anders' Army, faced a choice between remaining with the Anders' Army to fight Nazi Germany in Europe, or staying in Palestine to fight for establishment of a Jewish state. While he initially wished to remain with the Polish army, he was eventually persuaded to change his mind by his contacts in the Irgun, as well as Polish officers sympathetic to the Zionist cause. Consequently, General Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski, the second in command of the Army issued Begin with a "leave of absence without an expiration" which gave Begin official permission to stay in Palestine. In December 1942 he left Ander's Army and joined the Irgun.^[13]

During the Holocaust, Begin's father was among the 5,000 Brest Jews rounded up by the Nazis at the end of June 1941. Instead of being sent to a forced labor camp, they were shot or drowned in the river. His mother and older brother Herzl also died in the Holocaust.^[10]

Jewish underground

Begin quickly made a name for himself as a fierce critic of the dominant Zionist leadership for being too cooperative with British ‘colonialism’ and a proponent of armed opposition to it, which he saw as a necessary means to achieve independence.^{[citation needed]} In 1942 he joined the Irgun (Etzel), an underground Zionist group which had split from the main Jewish military organization, the Haganah, in 1931. In 1944 Begin assumed the organization's leadership, determined to force the British government to remove its troops entirely from Palestine. Giving as reasons that the British had reneged on the promises given in the Balfour Declaration and that the White Paper of 1939 restricting Jewish immigration was an escalation of their pro-Arab policy, he decided to break with the Haganah. Soon after he assumed command, a formal 'Declaration of Revolt' was publicized, and armed attacks against British forces were initiated.

In 1944–48 the Irgun engaged in armed opposition, attacking British installations and posts. These operations were financed by demanding money from Jewish merchants and engaging in insurance scams in the local diamond industry.^[14]

For several months in 1945–46, the Irgun’s activities were coordinated within the framework of the Hebrew Resistance Movement. Begin ordered the bombing of the British administrative and military headquarters at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, in 1946. The attack was conducted as part of a joint response to the British Operation Agatha, during which many Jews were arrested, weapons were seized and the Jewish Agency, from which many documents were removed, was raided. Irgun later claimed that warnings to evacuate had been sent but were ignored. 91 people, British, Arab and Jewish, were killed.

The fragile partnership collapsed following the bombing, partly because contrary to instructions, it was carried out during the busiest part of the day at the hotel. Under Begin’s leadership, the Irgun continued to carry out operations such as breaking into Acre Prison, and the kidnapping and hanging of two British sergeants in order to prevent, and then in retaliation to, the execution of several Irgun members by the British. Growing numbers of British soldiers and policemen were deployed to quell the Jewish uprising, yet Begin managed to elude captivity, at times disguised as a rabbi. MI5 placed a 'dead-or-alive' bounty of £10,000 on his head after Irgun threatened 'a campaign of terror against British officials', saying they would kill Sir John Shaw, Britain's Chief Secretary in Palestine.

The Jewish Agency, headed by David Ben-Gurion, opposed the Irgun’s independent agenda, which it saw as a challenge to its authority as the representative body of the Jewish community in Palestine. Ben-Gurion openly denounced the Irgun as the “enemy of the Jewish People”, accusing it of sabotaging the political campaign to create a Jewish state. In 1944, the Haganah actively pursued and handed over Irgun members to the British authorities in what became known as The Hunting Season; Begin’s instruction to his men to refrain from violent resistance prevented this from deteriorating into an armed intra-Jewish conflict. In November 1947, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution recommending a Partition Plan for Palestine and Britain announced its plans to fully withdraw from Palestine by May 1948. Begin, once again remained in opposition to the mainstream Zionist leadership. In the years following the establishment of the State of Israel, the Irgun’s contribution to precipitating British withdrawal became a hotly contested debate as different factions vied for control over the emerging narrative of Israeli independence.^[15] Begin resented his being portrayed as a belligerent dissident.^[16]

Altalena and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War

During the 1947-1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, Irgun fighters fought alongside the Haganah and Lehi militia in fighting the Arab forces. Notable operations in which they took part were the battles of Jaffa and the Jordanian siege on the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. One such operation was the Deir Yassin Massacre of Arab villagers in April 1948. After the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948 and the start of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Irgun continued to fight alongside Haganah and Lehi. On 15 May 1948, Begin broadcast a speech on radio declaring that the Irgun was finally moving out of its underground status.^[17] On 1 June Begin signed an agreement with the provisional government headed by David Ben Gurion, where the Irgun agreed to formally disband and to integrate its force with the newly formed, but was not truthful of the armaments aboard the Altalena as it was scheduled to arrive during the cease fire ordered by the United Nations and therefore would have put the State of Israel in peril as Britain was adamant the partition of Jewish and Arab Palestine would not occur. This delivery was the smoking gun Britain would need to urge the UN to end the partition action. Israel Defense Forces (IDF). ^{[citation needed]}

Intense negotiations between representatives of the provisional government (headed by Ben-Gurion) and the Irgun (headed by Begin) followed the departure of Altalena from France. Among the issues discussed were logistics of the ship's landing and distribution of the cargo between the military organizations. Whilst there was agreement on the anchoring place of the Altalena, there were differences of opinion about the allocation of the cargo. Ben-Gurion agreed to Begin's initial request that 20% of the weapons be dispatched to the Irgun's Jerusalem Battalion, which was still fighting independently. His second request, however, that the remainder be transferred to the IDF to equip the newly incorporated Irgun battalions, was rejected by the Government representatives, who interpreted the request as a demand to reinforce an "army within an army."

The Altalena reached Kfar Vitkin in the late afternoon of Sunday, June 20. Among the Irgun members waiting on the shore was Menachem Begin, who greeted the arrivals with great emotion. After the passengers had disembarked, members of the fishing village of Mikhmoret helped unload the cargo of military equipment. Concomitantly with the events at Kfar Vitkin, the government had convened in Tel Aviv for its weekly meeting. Ben-Gurion reported on the meetings which had preceded the arrival of the Altalena, and was adamant in his demand that Begin surrender and hand over all of the weapons:

We must decide whether to hand over power to Begin or to order him to cease his separate activities. If he does not do so, we will open fire! Otherwise, we must decide to disperse our own army.

The debate ended in a resolution to empower the army to use force if necessary to overcome the Irgun and to confiscate the ship and its cargo. Implementation of this decision was assigned to the Alexandroni Brigade, commanded by Dan Even (Epstein), which the following day surrounded the Kfar Vitkin area. Dan Even issued the following ultimatum:

To: M. Begin
By special order from the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, I am empowered to confiscate the weapons and military materials which have arrived on the Israeli coast in the area of my jurisdiction in the name of the Israel Government. I have been authorized to demand that you hand over the weapons to me for safekeeping and to inform you that you should establish contact with the supreme command. You are required to carry out this order immediately. If you do not agree to carry out this order, I shall use all the means at my disposal in order to implement the order and to requisition the weapons which have reached shore and transfer them from private possession into the possession of the Israel government. I wish to inform you that the entire area is surrounded by fully armed military units and armored cars, and all roads are blocked. I hold you fully responsible for any consequences in the event of your refusal to carry out this order. The immigrants - unarmed - will be permitted to travel to the camps in accordance with your arrangements. You have ten minutes to give me your answer.
D.E., Brigade Commander

The ultimatum was made, according to Even, "in order not to give the Irgun commander time for lengthy considerations and to gain the advantage of surprise." Begin refused to respond to the ultimatum, and all attempts at mediation failed. Begin's failure to respond was a blow to Even's prestige, and a clash was now inevitable. Fighting ensued and there were a number of casualties. In order to prevent further bloodshed, the Kfar Vitkin settlers initiated negotiations between Yaakov Meridor (Begin's deputy) and Dan Even, which ended in a general ceasefire and the transfer of the weapons on shore to the local IDF commander.

Begin had meanwhile boarded the Altalena, which was headed for Tel Aviv where the Irgun had more supporters. Many Irgun members, who joined the IDF earlier that month, left their bases and concentrated on the Tel Aviv beach. A confrontation between them and the IDF units started. In response, Ben-Gurion ordered Yigael Yadin (acting Chief of Staff) to concentrate large forces on the Tel Aviv beach and to take the ship by force. Heavy guns were transferred to the area and at four in the afternoon, Ben-Gurion ordered the shelling of the Altalena. One of the shells hit the ship, which began to burn. Yigal Allon, commander of the troops on the shore, later claimed only five or six shells were fired, as warning shots, and the ship was hit by accident.^[18]

There was danger that the fire would spread to the holds which contained explosives, and Captain Monroe Fein ordered all aboard to abandon ship. People jumped into the water, whilst their comrades on shore set out to meet them on rafts. Although Captain Fein flew the white flag of surrender, automatic fire continued to be directed at the unarmed survivors swimming in the water. ^{[citation needed]} Begin, who was on deck, agreed to leave the ship only after the last of the wounded had been evacuated. Sixteen Irgun fighters were killed in the confrontation with the army (all but three were veteran members and not newcomers in the ship); six were killed in the Kfar Vitkin area and ten on Tel Aviv beach. Three IDF soldiers were killed: two at Kfar Vitkin and one in Tel Aviv.^[19][20][21]

After the shelling of the Altalena, more than 200 Irgun fighters were arrested. Most of them were released several weeks later, with the exception of five senior commanders (Moshe Hason, Eliyahu Lankin, Yaakov Meridor, Bezalel Amitzur, and Hillel Kook), who were detained for more than two months, until August 27, 1948. Begin agreed the Irgun soldiers would be fully integrated with the IDF and not kept in separate units.

About a year later, Altalena was refloated, towed 15 miles out to sea and sunk.^[22]

Political career

Herut opposition years

Menachem Begin
Date of birth	(1913-08-16)16 August 1913
Place of birth	Brest, Russian Empire
Year of aliyah	1942
Date of death	9 March 1992(1992-03-09) (aged 78)
Place of death	Tel Aviv, Israel
Knessets	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

In August 1948, Begin and members of the Irgun High Command emerged from the underground and formed the right-wing political party Herut ("Freedom") party.^[23] The move countered the weakening attraction for the earlier revisionist party, Hatzohar, founded by his late mentor Ze'ev Jabotinsky. Revisionist 'purists' alleged nonetheless that Begin was out to steal Jabotinsky's mantle and ran against him with the old party. The Herut party can be seen as the forerunner of today's Likud.

In November 1948, Begin visited the US on a campaigning trip. During his visit, a letter signed by Albert Einstein, Sidney Hook, Hannah Arendt, and other prominent Americans and several rabbis was published which described Begin's Herut party as "closely akin in its organization, methods, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties" and accused his group (along with the smaller, militant, Stern Gang) of preaching "racial superiority" and having "inaugurated a reign of terror in the Palestine Jewish community".^[24][25]

In the first elections in 1949, Herut, with 11.5 percent of the vote, won 14 seats, while Hatzohar failed to break the threshold and disbanded shortly thereafter. This provided Begin with legitimacy as the leader of the Revisionist stream of Zionism.

Between 1948 and 1977, under Begin, Herut and the alliances it formed (Gahal in 1965 and Likud in 1973) formed the main opposition to the dominant Mapai and later the Alignment (the forerunners of today's Labour Party) in the Knesset; Herut adopted a radical nationalistic agenda committed to the irredentist idea of Greater Israel. During those years, Begin was systematically delegitimized by the ruling party, and was often personally derided by Ben-Gurion who refused to either speak to or refer to him by name. Ben-Gurion famously coined the phrase 'without Herut and Maki' (Maki was the communist party), referring to his refusal to consider them for coalition, effectively pushing both parties and their voters beyond the margins of political consensus.

The personal animosity between Ben-Gurion and Begin, going back to the hostilities over the Altalena Affair, underpinned the political dichotomy between Mapai and Herut. Begin was a keen critic of Mapai, accusing it of coercive Bolshevism and deep-rooted institutional corruption. Drawing on his training as a lawyer in Poland, he preferred wearing a formal suit and tie and evincing the dry demeanor of a legislator to the socialist informality of Mapai, as a means of accentuating their differences.

One of the fiercest confrontations between Begin and Ben-Gurion revolved around the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany, signed in 1952. Begin vehemently opposed the agreement, claiming that it was tantamount to a pardon of Nazi crimes against the Jewish people.^[26] While the agreement was debated in the Knesset in January 1952, he led a demonstration in Jerusalem attended by some 15,000 people, and gave a passionate and dramatic speech in which he attacked the government and called for its violent overthrow. Referring to the Altalena Affair, Begin stated that "when you fired at me with cannon, I gave the order; 'Don't [return fire]!' Today I will give the order, 'Do!'"^[27] Incited by his speech, the crowd marched towards the Knesset (then at the Frumin Building on King George Street) and threw stones at the windows, and at police as they intervened. After five hours of rioting, police managed to suppress the riots using water cannons and tear gas. Hundreds were arrested, while some 200 rioters, 140 police officers, and several Knesset members were injured. Many held Begin personally responsible for the violence, and he was consequently barred from the Knesset for several months. His behavior was strongly condemned in mainstream public discourse, reinforcing his image as a provocateur. The vehemence of Revisionist opposition was deep; in March 1952, during the ongoing reparations negotiations, a parcel bomb addressed to Konrad Adenauer, the sitting West German Chancellor, was intercepted at a German post office. While being defused, the bomb exploded, killing one sapper and injuring two others. Five Israelis, all former members of Irgun, were later arrested in Paris for their involvement in the plot. Chancellor Adenauer decided to keep secret the involvement of Israeli opposition party members in the plot, thus avoiding Israeli embarrassment and a likely backlash. The five Irgun conspirators were later extradited from both France and Germany, without charge, and sent back to Israel. Forty years after the assassination attempt, Begin was implicated as the organizer of the assassination attempt in a memoir written by one of the conspirators, Elieser Sudit.^{[28][29][30][31]}

Begin's impassioned rhetoric, laden with pathos and evocations of the Holocaust, appealed to many, but was deemed inflammatory and demagoguery by others.

Gahal and unity government

In the following years, Begin failed to gain electoral momentum, and Herut remained far behind Labor with a total of 17 seats until 1961. In 1965, Herut and the Liberal Party united to form the Gahal party under Begin’s leadership, but failed again to win more seats in the election that year. In 1966, during Herut's party convention, he was challenged by the young Ehud Olmert, who called for his resignation. Begin announced that he would retire from party leadership, but soon reversed his decision when the crowd pleaded with him to stay. The day the Six-Day War started in June 1967, Gahal joined the national unity government under Prime Minister Levi Eshkol of the Alignment, resulting in Begin serving in the cabinet for the first time, as a Minister without Portfolio. Rafi also joined the unity government at that time, with Moshe Dayan becoming Defense Minister. Gahal's arrangement lasted until August 1970, when Begin and Gahal quit the government, then led by Golda Meir due to disagreements over the Rogers Plan and its "in place" cease-fire with Egypt along the Suez Canal,^[32] Other sources, including William B. Quandt, note that the Labor party, by formally accepting UN 242 in mid-1970, had accepted "peace for withdrawal" on all fronts, and because of this Begin had left the unity government. On 5 August, Begin explained before the Knesset why he was resigning from the cabinet. He said, "As far as we are concerned, what do the words 'withdrawal from territories administered since 1967 by Israel' mean other than Judea and Samaria. Not all the territories; but by all opinion, most of them."^[33]

Likud chairmanship

In 1973, Begin agreed to a plan by Ariel Sharon to form a larger bloc of opposition parties, made up from Gahal, the Free Centre, and other smaller groups. They came through with a tenuous alliance called the Likud ("Consolidation"). In the elections held later that year, two months after the Yom Kippur War, the Likud won a considerable share of the votes, though with 39 seats still remained in opposition.

Yet the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War saw ensuing public disenchantment with the Alignment. Voices of criticism about the government's misconduct of the war gave rise to growing public resentment. Personifying the antithesis to the Alignment's socialist ethos, Begin appealed to many Mizrahi Israelis, mostly first and second generation Jewish refugees from Arab countries, who felt they were continuously being treated by the establishment as second-class citizens. His open embrace of Judaism stood in stark contrast to the Alignment's secularism, which alienated Mizrahi voters and drew many of them to support Begin, becoming his burgeoning political base. In the years 1974–77 Yitzhak Rabin's government suffered from instability due to infighting within the labor party (Rabin and Shimon Peres) and the shift to the right by the National Religious Party, as well as numerous corruption scandals. All these weakened the labor camp and finally allowed Begin to capture the center stage of Israeli politics.

Prime Minister of Israel

1977 electoral victory

On 17 May 1977 the Likud, headed by Begin, won the Knesset elections by a landslide, becoming the biggest party in the Knesset. Popularly known as the Mahapakh ("upheaval"), the election results had seismic ramifications as for the first time in Israeli history a party other than the Alignment/Mapai was in a position to form a government, effectively ending the left's hitherto unrivalled domination over Israeli politics. Likud's electoral victory signified a fundamental restructuring of Israeli society in which the founding socialist Ashkenazi elite was being replaced by a coalition representing marginalized Mizrahi and Jewish-religious communities, promoting a socially conservative and economically liberal agenda.

The Likud campaign leading up to the election centered on Begin's personality. Demonized by the Alignment as totalitarian and extremist, his self-portrayal as a humble and pious leader struck a chord with many who felt abandoned by the ruling party's ideology. In the predominantly Jewish Mizrahi working class urban neighborhoods and peripheral towns, the Likud won overwhelming majorities, while disillusionment with the Alignment's corruption prompted many middle and upper class voters to support the newly founded centrist Democratic Movement for Change ("Dash") headed by Yigael Yadin. Dash won 15 seats out of 120, largely at the expense of the Alignment, which was led by Shimon Peres and had shrunk from 51 to 32 seats. Well aware of his momentous achievement and employing his trademark sense for drama, when speaking that night in the Likud headquarters Begin quoted from the Gettysburg Address and the Torah, referring to his victory as a 'turning point in the history of the Jewish people'.

With 43 seats, the Likud still required the support of other parties in order to reach a parliamentary majority that would enable it to form a government under Israel's proportionate representation parliamentary system. Though able to form a narrow coalition with smaller Jewish religious and ultra-orthodox parties, Begin also sought support from centrist elements in the Knesset to provide his government with greater public legitimacy. He controversially offered the foreign affairs portfolio to Moshe Dayan, a former IDF Chief of Staff and Defense Minister, and a prominent Alignment politician identified with the old establishment. Begin was sworn in as Prime Minister of Israel on 20 June 1977. Dash eventually joined his government several months later, thus providing it with the broad support of almost two thirds of the Knesset. While Prime Minister, Yehuda Avner served as Begin's speech writer.

Camp David accords

In 1978 Begin, aided by Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan and Defense Minister Ezer Weizman, came to Washington and Camp David to negotiate the Camp David Accords, leading to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty with Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat. Before going to Washington to meet President Carter, Begin visited Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson for his advice.^[34] Under the terms of the treaty, brokered by US President, Jimmy Carter, Israel was to hand over the Sinai Peninsula in its entirety to Egypt. The peace treaty with Egypt was a watershed moment in Middle Eastern history, as it was the first time an Arab state recognized Israel’s legitimacy whereas Israel effectively accepted the land for peace principle as blueprint for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. Given Egypt’s prominent position within the Arab World, especially as Israel’s biggest and most powerful enemy, the treaty had far reaching strategic and geopolitical implications.

Almost overnight, Begin’s public image of an irresponsible nationalist radical was transformed into that of a statesman of historic proportions. This image was reinforced by international recognition which culminated with him being awarded, together with Sadat, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978.

Yet while establishing Begin as a leader with broad public appeal, the peace treaty with Egypt was met with fierce criticism within his own Likud party. His devout followers found it difficult to reconcile Begin’s history as a keen promoter of the Greater Israel agenda with his willingness to relinquish occupied territory. Agreeing to the removal of Israeli settlements from the Sinai was perceived by many as a clear departure from Likud’s Revisionist ideology. Several prominent Likud members, most notably Yitzhak Shamir, objected to the treaty and abstained when it was ratified with an overwhelming majority in the Knesset, achieved only thanks to support from the opposition. A small group of hardliners within Likud, associated with Gush Emunim Jewish settlement movement, eventually decided to split and form the Tehiya party in 1979. They led the Movement for Stopping the Withdrawal from Sinai, violently clashing with IDF soldiers during the forceful eviction of Yamit settlement in April 1982. Despite the traumatic scenes from Yamit, political support for the treaty did not diminish and the Sinai was handed over to Egypt in 1982.

Begin was less resolute in implementing the section of the Camp David Accord calling for Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He appointed Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon to implement a large scale expansion of Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories, a policy intended to make future territorial concessions in these areas effectively impossible. Begin refocused Israeli settlement strategy from populating peripheral areas in accordance with the Allon Plan, to building Jewish settlements in areas of Biblical and historic significance. When the settlement of Elon Moreh was established on the outskirts of Nablus in 1979, following years of campaigning by Gush Emunim, Begin declared that there are "many more Elon Morehs to come." During his term dozens of new settlements were built, and Jewish population in the West Bank and Gaza more than quadrupled.^[35]

Bombing Iraqi nuclear reactor

Begin took Saddam Hussein's anti-Zionist threats seriously and therefore took aim at Iraq, which was building a nuclear reactor named Osirak or Tammuz 1 with French and Italian assistance. When Begin took office, preparations were intensified. Begin authorized the construction of a full-scale model of the Iraqi reactor which Israeli pilots could practice bombing.^[36] Israel attempted to negotiate with France and Italy to cut off assistance and with the United States to obtain assurances that the program would be halted. The negotiations failed. Begin considered the diplomatic option fruitless, and worried that prolonging the attack would lead to a fatal inability to act in response to the perceived threat.

The decision to attack was hotly contested within Begin's government.^[37] However, in October 1980, the Mossad informed Begin that the reactor would be fueled and operational by June 1981. This assessment was aided by reconnaissance photos supplied by the United States, and the Israeli cabinet voted to approve an attack.^[38] In June 1981, Begin ordered the destruction of the reactor. On 7 June 1981, the Israeli Air Force destroyed the reactor in a successful long-range operation called Operation Opera.^[39] Soon after, Begin enunciated what came to be known as the Begin doctrine: "On no account shall we permit an enemy to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against the people of Israel." Many foreign governments, including the United States, condemned the operation, and the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 487 condemning it. The Israeli left-wing opposition criticized it also at the time, but mainly for its timing relative to elections only three weeks later.

Lebanon invasion

On 6 June 1982, Begin’s government authorized the Israel Defense Forces invasion of Lebanon, in response to the attempted assassination of the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov. The objective of Operation Peace for Galilee was to force the PLO out of rocket range of Israel's northern border. Begin was hoping for a short and limited Israeli involvement that would destroy the PLO’s political and military infrastructure in southern Lebanon, effectively reshaping the balance of Lebanese power in favor of the Christian Militias who were allied with Israel. Nevertheless, fighting soon escalated into war with Palestinian and Lebanese militias, as well as the Syrian military, and the IDF progressed as far as Beirut, well beyond the 40 km limit initially authorized by the government. Israeli forces were successful in driving the PLO out of Lebanon and forcing its leadership to relocate to Tunisia, but the war ultimately failed to achieve its political goals of bringing security to Israel’s northern border and creating stability in Lebanon. Begin referred to the invasion as an inevitable act of survival, often comparing Yasser Arafat to Hitler. However, public dissatisfaction reached a peak in September 1982, after the Sabra and Shatila Massacre. Hundreds of thousands gathered in Tel Aviv in what was one of the biggest public demonstrations in Israeli history. The Kahan Commission, appointed to investigate the events, found the government indirectly responsible for the massacre and accused Defense Minister Ariel Sharon of gross negligence. Sharon was forced to resign, and public pressure on Begin to resign increased.

Begin’s disoriented appearance on national television while visiting the Beaufort battle site raised concerns that he was being misinformed about the war’s progress. Asking Sharon whether PLO fighters had ‘machine guns’, Begin seemed out of touch with the nature and scale of the military campaign he had authorized. Almost a decade later, Haaretz reporter Uzi Benziman published a series of articles accusing Sharon of intentionally deceiving Begin about the operation’s initial objectives, and continuously misleading him as the war progressed. Sharon sued both the newspaper and Benziman for libel in 1991. The trial lasted 11 years, with one of the highlights being the deposition of Begin's son, Benny, in favor of the defendants. Sharon lost the case.^[40]

Argentine journalist Hernan Dobry has alleged that during this time Begin also ordered an airlift of weapons to Argentina during the Falklands War, because he still hated the British decades after fighting them in the 1940s, and wanted to avenge the hanging of his friend Dov Gruner.^[41]

Retirement from public life

Begin himself retired from politics in August 1983 and handed over the reins of the office of Prime Minister to his old friend-in-arms Yitzhak Shamir, who had been the leader of the Lehi resistance to the British. Begin had become deeply disappointed by the war in Lebanon because he had hoped to establish peace with Bashir Gemayel, who was assassinated. Instead, there were mounting Israeli casualties. The death of his wife Aliza in Israel while he was away on an official visit to Washington DC, added to his own mounting depression. After his wife's death, Begin would rarely leave his apartment, and then usually to visit her grave-site to say the traditional Kaddish prayer for the departed. His seclusion was watched over by his children and his lifetime personal secretary Yechiel Kadishai, who monitored all official requests for meetings.

Death

On 3 March 1992, Begin suffered a severe heart attack in his Tel Aviv apartment, and was rushed to Ichilov Hospital, where he was put in the intensive care unit. Begin arrived there unconscious and paralyzed on the left side of his body. His condition slightly improved following treatment, and he regained consciousness after 20 hours. For the next six days, Begin remained in serious condition. Begin was too frail to overcome the effects of the heart attack, and his condition began to rapidly deteriorate on 9 March at about 3:15 AM. An emergency team of doctors and nurses attempted to resuscitate his failing heart. His children were notified of his condition and immediately rushed to his side. Begin died at 3:30 AM. His death was announced an hour and a half later. Shortly before 6:00 AM, the hospital rabbi arrived at his bedside to say the Kaddish prayer.^[42][43]

Begin's funeral took place in Jerusalem that afternoon. His coffin was carried four kilometers from the Sanhedria Funeral Parlor to Mount of Olives in a funeral procession attended by thousands of people.^[44] In accordance with his wishes, Begin was given a simple Jewish burial ceremony and buried on the Mount of Olives in the Jewish Cemetery there. He had asked to be buried there instead of Mount Herzl, where most Israeli leaders are laid to rest, because he wanted to be buried beside his wife Aliza, as well as Meir Feinstein of Irgun and Moshe Barazani of Lehi, who committed suicide in jail while awaiting execution by the British.^[45] An estimated 75,000 mourners were present at the funeral. Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, President Chaim Herzog, all cabinet ministers present in Israel, Supreme Court justices, Knesset members from most parties and a number of foreign ambassadors attended the funeral. Former members of the Irgun High Command served as pallbearers.^[46]

In 2005, he was voted the 4th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.^[47]

Begin in fiction and on film

A slightly fictionalized Menachem Begin appeared in the first edition of Land of Black Gold, but was removed from subsequent editions. He appears in the film Waltz with Bashir and in the novel The Fifth Horseman, by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre.

Begin was played by David Opatoshu in the 1977 TV film Raid on Entebbe and by Barry Morse in the 1983 miniseries Sadat.

Chris Claremont, longtime writer of the X-Men comic book, has said that Begin reminds him of the character Magneto.^[48]

In The Last Temptation of Homer, Bart Simpson is prescribed square, black-rimmed eyeglasses for his lazy eye, and the doctor tries to comfort him by saying that "Menachem Begin wore a pair just like them."

A stage play, "Mr. Begin", written by Gabriel Emanuel and starring actor Dani Shteg, opened at the Menahem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem in July, 2013.

Published work

• The Revolt (ISBN 0-8402-1370-0)
• White Nights: The story of a prisoner in Russia (ISBN 0-06-010289-6)

See also

• List of Jewish Nobel laureates
• Menachem Begin Heritage Center

References

Further reading

• Yehuda Avner, The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership, The Toby Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1-59264-278-6
• Ilan Peleg, Begin’s foreign policy, 1977–1983 : Israel’s move to the right, Greenwood Press, 1987
• Eric Silver, Begin: The Haunted Prophet, Random House, 1984
• Sasson Sofer, Begin: an anatomy of leadership, Basil Blackwell, 1988
• Avi Shilon, Begin , 1913–1992, 2007
• Frank Gervasi, The life and times of Menahem Begin : rebel to statesman, Putnam, 1979
• Harry Hurwitz, Yisrael Medad, "Peace in the Making", Gefen Publishing House, 2010
• Prime Minister Menachem Begin on justice and the rule of law: selected documents on the 20th anniversary of his death on Israel State Archives website:

http://www.archives.gov.il/ArchiveGov_Eng/Publications/ElectronicPirsum/MenachemBegin/

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Menachem Begin

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Menachem Begin.

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Menachem Begin

Official sites

• The Menachem Begin Heritage Center
• PM Sharon's Address at the Opening Ceremony for the Begin Heritage Centre Building, 16 June 2004.
• Menachem Begin – The Sixth Prime Minister at the Official Site of the [Israeli] Prime Minister's Office.
• Menachem Begin on the Knesset website.
  • in English

Miscellaneous links

• The Camp David Accords
• The Bombing of the King David Hotel
• Irgun webpage
• 1948 Letter of some Eminent Jews to New York Times
• The Begin Biography at the Nobel Foundation website.
• Bodies of murdered Clifford Martin and Marvyn Paice
• Menachem Begin Noble Peace Prize Speech at JInsider History Moment.
• Menachem Begin Memorial Dedication in Brest, Belarus
  • (Russian) About the future Begin Monument in Brest, Belarus, Vecherniy Brest, Brest, Belarus.
  • (Russian) Unveiling of the Begin Monument in Brest, Belarus (October 31, 2013), Vecherniy Brest, Brest, Belarus.
• Prime Minister Menachem Begin on justice and the rule of law: selected documents on the 20th anniversary of his death at the Israel State Archives (Prime Minister's Office).
• "Menachem Begin: A New Israel", Video Lecture by Dr. Henry Abramson.

Party political offices
Preceded by new party	Leader of the Herut party 1948—1973	Succeeded by Likud party
Preceded by new party	Leader of the Likud party 1973—1983	Succeeded by Yitzhak Shamir

<th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2" style="background:#e8e8ff;style="background:#eee;;">  Menachem Begin v t e Prime Ministers of Israel Ben-Gurion (1948–53) Sharett (1953–55) Ben-Gurion (1955–63) Eshkol (1963–69) Allon (acting) Meir (1969–74) Rabin (1974–77) Begin (1977–83) Shamir (1983–84) Peres (1984–86) Shamir (1986–92) Rabin (1992–95) Peres (1995–96) Netanyahu (1996–99) Barak (1999–2001) Sharon (2001–06) Olmert (2006–09) Netanyahu (2009–present) v t e Agriculture and Rural Development Ministers of Israel Zisling (1948–49) Yosef (1949–50) Lavon (1950–51) Eshkol (1951–52) Naftali (1952–55) Luz (1955–59) Dayan (1959–64) Gvati (1964–74) Uzan (1974–77) Sharon (1977–81) Erlich (1981–83) Begin (1983) Grupper (1983–84) Nehemkin (1984–88) Katz-Oz (1988–90) Eitan (1990–91) Tzur (1992–96) Eitan (1996–99) Oron (1999–2000) Barak (2000–01) Simhon (2001–02) Livni (2002–03) Katz (2003–06) Boim (2006) Simhon (2006–11) Noked (2011–2013) Shamir (2013–) v t e Communications Ministers of Israel Nurock (1952) Burg (1952–58) Barzilai (1958–59) Mintz (1960–61) Sasson (1961–67) Yeshayahu (1967–69) Rimalt (1969–70) Peres (1970–74) Uzan (1974) Rabin (1974–75) Uzan (1975–77) Begin (1977) Amit (1977–78) Moda'i (1979–80) Aridor (1981) Tzipori (1981–84) Rubinstein (1984–87) Yaacobi (1987–90) Pinhasi (1990–92) Shahal (1992–93) Aloni (1993–96) Livnat (1996–99) Ben-Eliezer (1999–2001) Rivlin (2001–03) Sharon (2003) Olmert (2003–05) Itzik (2005) Hirschson (2006) Atias (2006–2009) Kahlon (2009–2013) Erdan (2013–) v t e Defense Ministers of Israel Ben-Gurion (1948–54) Lavon (1954–55) Ben-Gurion (1955–63) Eshkol (1963–67) Dayan (1967–74) Peres (1974–77) Weizman (1977–80) Begin (1980–81) Sharon (1981–83) Arens (1983–84) Rabin (1984–90) Shamir (1990) Arens (1990–92) Rabin (1992–95) Peres (1995–96) Mordechai (1996–99) Arens (1999) Barak (1999–2001) Ben-Eliezer (2001–02) Mofaz (2002–06) Peretz (2006–07) Barak (2007–13) Ya'alon (2013–) v t e Foreign Affairs Ministers of Israel Sharett (1948–56) Meir (1956–66) Eban (1966–74) Allon (1974–77) Dayan (1977–79) Shamir (1980–86) Peres (1986–88) Arens (1988–90) Levy (1990–92) Peres (1992–95) Barak (1995–96) Levy (1996–98) Sharon (1998–99) Levy (1999–2000) Ben-Ami (2000–01) Peres (2001–02) Netanyahu (2002–03) Shalom (2003–06) Livni (2006–09) Lieberman (2009–12) Netanyahu (2012–13) Lieberman (2013–) v t e Justice Ministers of Israel Rosen (1948–51) Yosef (1951–52) Cohn (1952) Rosen (1952–56) Ben-Gurion (1956–58) Rosen (1958–61) Yosef (1961–66) Shapira (1966–72) Meir (1972) Shapira (1972–73) Meir (1973–74) Zadok (1974–77) Begin (1977) Tamir (1977–80) Nissim (1980–86) Moda'i (1986) Sharir (1986–88) Meridor (1988–92) Libai (1992–96) Ne'eman (1996) Netanyahu (1996) Hanegbi (1996–99) Beilin (1999–2001) Sheetrit (2001–2003) Lapid (2003–04) Livni (2004–06)* Ramon (2006) Sheetrit (2006)* Olmert (2006)* Livni (2006–07) Friedmann (2007–09) Ne'eman (2009–2013) Livni (2013–) * entire or partial tenure as Substitute Justice Minister, until a replacement was found v t e Transportation Ministers of Israel Remez (1948–50) Yosef (1950–51) Pinkas (1951–52) Ben-Gurion (1952) Serlin (1952–53) Sapir (1953–55) Aran (1955) Carmel (1955–59) Ben-Aharon (1959–62) Bar-Yehuda (1962–65) Carmel (1965–69) Weizman (1969–70) Peres (1970–74) Yariv (1974) Yaacobi (1974–77) Begin (1977) Amit (1977–78) Landau (1979–81) Corfu (1981–88) Katsav (1988–92) Kessar (1992–96) Levy (1996–98) Yahalom (1998–99) Mordechai (1999–2000) Lipkin-Shahak (2000–01) Sneh (2001–02) Sharon (2002) Hanegbi (2002–03) Lieberman (2003–04) Sheetrit (2004–06) Mofaz (2006–09) Katz (2009–) v t e Welfare and Social Services Ministers of Israel Levin (1948–52) Shapira (1952–58) Naftali (1959) Burg (1959–70) Hasani (1970–74) Shem-Tov (1974) Hasani (1974–75) Rabin (1975) Burg (1975) Hammer (1975–76) Baram (1977) Begin (1977) Katz (1977–81) Abuhatzira (1981–82) Uzan (1982–84) Katsav (1984–88) Shamir (1988–90) Milo (1990) Shamir (1990–92) Rabin (1992) Namir (1992–96) Yishai (1996–2000) Cohen (2000–01) Benizri (2001–02) Sharon (2002) Benizri (2002–03) Orlev (2003–04) Olmert (2006–07) Herzog (2007–11) Kahlon (2011–2013) Cohen (2013–)

v t e Zionism Concepts Zion Land of Israel Aliyah Yerida Homeland (proposals) Jewish state Law of Return Yishuv Territorialism Promised Land Settlement Negation of the Diaspora Revival of the Hebrew language Hebraization of surnames Judaization Ideologies Political Practical Synthetic General Labor Revisionist Canaanism Reform Religious Cultural Federal Post-Zionism Neo-Zionism Christian Muslim Kahanism Green Organizations Histadrut World Zionist Organization Zionist General Council Zionist Organization of America Religious Zionists of America Jewish National Fund Poale Zion Jewish Agency for Israel Jewish National Council Bnei Akiva Habonim Dror Hashomer Hatzair Haganah World Agudath Israel Irgun Betar Lehi Jewish Resistance Movement Palmach Women's International Zionist Organization Green Zionist Alliance American Zionist Movement Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland Institute for Zionist Strategies History and timelines Balfour Declaration UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 UN General Assembly Resolution 46/86 History of Zionism Israel Palestine the Arab–Israeli conflict Timelines Zionism Anti-Zionism Related topics List of Zionists Anti-Zionism Haredim and Zionism Jewish autonomism Jewish emancipation Jewish political movements Greater Israel Muscular Judaism Zionist political violence

v t e Prime Ministers of Israel Ben-Gurion (1948–53) Sharett (1953–55) Ben-Gurion (1955–63) Eshkol (1963–69) Allon (acting) Meir (1969–74) Rabin (1974–77) Begin (1977–83) Shamir (1983–84) Peres (1984–86) Shamir (1986–92) Rabin (1992–95) Peres (1995–96) Netanyahu (1996–99) Barak (1999–2001) Sharon (2001–06) Olmert (2006–09) Netanyahu (2009–present)

v t e Israeli–Palestinian conflict   Participants Israel Israel Defense Forces Israel Police Mossad Shabak (Shin Bet) Palestinians Principals Palestinian National Authority Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Fatah Hamas Other groups al-Aqsa Brigades DFLP PLF PIJ PPSF PFLP PFLP-GC PRC Third-party groups Arab League Hezbollah   Individuals Israelis Moshe Arens Ami Ayalon Ehud Barak Menachem Begin Meir Dagan Moshe Dayan Avi Dichter Yuval Diskin David Ben-Gurion Efraim Halevy Dan Halutz Tzipi Livni Golda Meir Shaul Mofaz Yitzhak Mordechai Benjamin Netanyahu Ehud Olmert Shimon Peres Yaakov Peri Yitzhak Rabin Amnon Lipkin-Shahak Yitzhak Shamir Ariel Sharon Shabtai Shavit Moshe Ya'alon Danny Yatom Zvi Zamir Palestinians Abu Abbas Mahmoud Abbas Moussa Arafat Yasser Arafat Yahya Ayyash Marwan Barghouti Mohammed Dahlan Mohammed Deif George Habash Wadie Haddad Ismail Haniyeh Nayef Hawatmeh Amin al-Husayni Ghazi Jabali Ahmed Jibril Abu Jihad Salah Khalaf Leila Khaled Sheikh Khalil Khaled Mashal Zuheir Mohsen Abu Ali Mustafa Abu Nidal Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Jibril Rajoub Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi Ali Hassan Salameh Salah Shehade Ramadan Shalah Fathi Shaqaqi Ahmed Yassin   Timeline Background 1920–1948 Mandatory Palestine 1920 Nebi Musa riots 1921 Jaffa riots 1929 Palestine riots Hebron massacre 1936–39 Arab revolt 1937–48 Irgun attacks 1947–48 Civil War   1948–1970 1948 Arab–Israeli War massacres 1948–present Fedayeen insurgency 1951–1967 Attacks against Israeli civilians 1950s–1960s IDF reprisal operations 1953 Qibya massacre 1956 Kafr Qasim / Khan Yunis / Rafah massacres 1967 Six-Day War 1967–70 War of Attrition 1968 Battle of Karameh Palestinian insurgency 1968–1982 1970 Avivim school bus massacre 1972 Sabena Flight 571 / Munich massacre / Operation "Wrath of God" 1974 Kiryat Shmona massacre / Ma'alot massacre 1975 Savoy Hotel attack 1976 Operation "Entebbe" 1978 Coastal Road massacre / South Lebanon conflict 1980 Misgav Am attack   1973–1987 1973 Yom Kippur War 1975 Zion Square bombing 1982 Lebanon War Siege of Beirut 1984 Bus 300 affair 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking / Operation "Wooden Leg" 1987 Night of the Gliders First Intifada 1987–1991/3/4 1988 Tunis Raid 1989 Bus 405 attack 1990s Palestinian suicide attacks 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre Second Intifada 2000–2005 Palestinian rocket attacks list Palestinian suicide attacks Israeli assassinations 2000 October events 2001 Santorini 2002 Karine A / Operation "Defensive Shield" / Battle of Jenin / Battle of Nablus / Operation "Determined Path" 2003 Abu Hasan / Ain es Saheb airstrike 2004 Operation "Rainbow" / Beit Hanoun raid / Operation "Days of Penitence"   2006–2010 2006 Operation "Bringing Home the Goods" 2008 Mercaz HaRav / Jerusalem bulldozer attack 2010 Palestinian militancy campaign Gaza–Israel conflict 2006–present 2006 Gaza beach explosion / Gaza cross-border raid / Operation "Summer Rains" / Operation "Autumn Clouds" / Beit Hanoun shelling 2008 Gaza–Egypt border breach / Operation "Hot Winter" 2008–09 Gaza War 2010 Gaza flotilla raid 2012 Operation "Returning Echo" / Operation "Pillar of Defense"   Diplomacy Timeline 1948–1991 1948 Palestinian exodus depopulated Arab settlements 1948–72 Jewish exodus from Arab countries 1949 Lausanne Conference 1967–present Israeli settlement settler violence international law 1990s 1991 Madrid Conference 1993 Oslo Accords 1994–present US security assistance to PNA 1997 Hebron Agreement 1998 Wye River Memorandum 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum 2000s 2000 Camp David Summit 2001 Taba Summit 2002 Quartet established 2003 Road Map 2005 Israeli unilateral disengagement plan 2006 Valley of Peace initiative 2007 Annapolis Conference 2009 Aftonbladet Israel controversy 2010s 2010–11 Direct negotiations 2011 Palestine Papers UN involvement 1947 UN Resolution 181 1948 UN Resolution 194 1967 UN Resolution 242

v t e Laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize 1901–1925 1901 Henry Dunant / Frédéric Passy 1902 Élie Ducommun / Charles Gobat 1903 Randal Cremer 1904 Institut de Droit International 1905 Bertha von Suttner 1906 Theodore Roosevelt 1907 Ernesto Moneta / Louis Renault 1908 Klas Arnoldson / Fredrik Bajer 1909 A. M. F. Beernaert / Paul Estournelles de Constant 1910 International Peace Bureau 1911 Tobias Asser / Alfred Fried 1912 Elihu Root 1913 Henri La Fontaine 1914 1915 1916 1917 International Committee of the Red Cross 1918 1919 Woodrow Wilson 1920 Léon Bourgeois 1921 Hjalmar Branting / Christian Lange 1922 Fridtjof Nansen 1923 1924 1925 Austen Chamberlain / Charles Dawes 1926–1950 1926 Aristide Briand / Gustav Stresemann 1927 Ferdinand Buisson / Ludwig Quidde 1928 1929 Frank B. Kellogg 1930 Nathan Söderblom 1931 Jane Addams / Nicholas Butler 1932 1933 Norman Angell 1934 Arthur Henderson 1935 Carl von Ossietzky 1936 Carlos Saavedra Lamas 1937 Robert Cecil 1938 Nansen International Office for Refugees 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 International Committee of the Red Cross 1945 Cordell Hull 1946 Emily Balch / John Mott 1947 Friends Service Council / American Friends Service Committee 1948 1949 John Boyd Orr 1950 Ralph Bunche 1951–1975 1951 Léon Jouhaux 1952 Albert Schweitzer 1953 George Marshall 1954 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 1955 1956 1957 Lester B. Pearson 1958 Georges Pire 1959 Philip Noel-Baker 1960 Albert Lutuli 1961 Dag Hammarskjöld 1962 Linus Pauling 1963 International Committee of the Red Cross / League of Red Cross Societies 1964 Martin Luther King, Jr. 1965 UNICEF 1966 1967 1968 René Cassin 1969 International Labour Organization 1970 Norman Borlaug 1971 Willy Brandt 1972 1973 Le Duc Tho (declined award) / Henry Kissinger 1974 Seán MacBride / Eisaku Satō 1975 Andrei Sakharov 1976–2000 1976 Betty Williams / Mairead Corrigan 1977 Amnesty International 1978 Anwar Sadat / Menachem Begin 1979 Mother Teresa 1980 Adolfo Pérez Esquivel 1981 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 1982 Alva Myrdal / Alfonso García Robles 1983 Lech Wałęsa 1984 Desmond Tutu 1985 International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War 1986 Elie Wiesel 1987 Óscar Arias 1988 UN Peacekeeping Forces 1989 Tenzin Gyatso (14th Dalai Lama) 1990 Mikhail Gorbachev 1991 Aung San Suu Kyi 1992 Rigoberta Menchú 1993 Nelson Mandela / F. W. de Klerk 1994 Shimon Peres / Yitzhak Rabin / Yasser Arafat 1995 Pugwash Conferences / Joseph Rotblat 1996 Carlos Belo / José Ramos-Horta 1997 International Campaign to Ban Landmines / Jody Williams 1998 John Hume / David Trimble 1999 Médecins Sans Frontières 2000 Kim Dae-jung 2001–present 2001 Kofi Annan / United Nations 2002 Jimmy Carter 2003 Shirin Ebadi 2004 Wangari Maathai 2005 International Atomic Energy Agency / Mohamed ElBaradei 2006 Grameen Bank / Muhammad Yunus 2007 Al Gore / Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2008 Martti Ahtisaari 2009 Barack Obama 2010 Liu Xiaobo 2011 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf / Leymah Gbowee / Tawakkol Karman 2012 European Union 2013 Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Authority control WorldCat VIAF: 14737754 LCCN: n79085130 ISNI: 0000 0001 1081 935X GND: 118508296 SELIBR: 177121 SUDOC: 026714485 BNF: cb11890947p NLA: 36051334 NDL: 00463022 NKC: js2005269459

Persondata
Name	Begin, Menachem Wolfovich
Alternative names	בגין, מנחם
Short description	Polish Jewish head of the Zionist underground group the Irgun, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the first Likud Prime Minister of Israel
Date of birth	16 August 1913
Place of birth	Brest, Russian Empire
Date of death	9 March 1992
Place of death	Tel Aviv, Israel