Menachem Begin

I

Introduction

Menachem Begin (1913-1992), Israeli prime minister (1977-1983), who in 1979 signed the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country (Egypt).

Begin was born in Brest-Litovsk, Russia (now Brest, Belarus). The son of an Orthodox Jew who supported Zionism (the movement for the settlement of Jewish people in Palestine), Begin became involved in Zionist youth organizations at an early age. At age 16, Begin joined Betar, the youth movement associated with Revisionist Zionists, who advocated more forceful action to establish a Jewish homeland than did mainstream Zionists.

Begin received a law degree from the University of Warsaw, in Poland, in 1935. In 1938 he became head of Betar in Poland. When the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, marking the outbreak of World War II, Begin fled east, but he was arrested by Soviet authorities and confined in concentration camps in Siberia and elsewhere until 1941. After joining the Polish army to fight the Nazis, Begin was dispatched to Palestine in 1942. Discharged in 1943, he remained in Palestine and assumed command of the Irgun Zvai Leumi, a guerrilla organization seeking to oust the British, who had controlled Palestine since 1922. Pursued by British authorities for his anti-British activities, Begin managed to evade capture by going into hiding in Tel Aviv (now part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel).

II

Early Political Career

After Israel gained independence in 1948 and the Irgun was disbanded, Begin founded the Herut (Freedom) Party, and in 1949 he was elected to represent it in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. Begin retained Herut's leadership throughout his political career. In its early years, Herut advocated the expansion of Jewish control to territory on both banks of the Jordan River, including the area of present-day Jordan. The party became known for its conservative, strongly nationalistic views. In 1952 Begin led Herut’s opposition to Israel’s agreements with West Germany (now part of the Federal Republic of Germany) providing for reparation payments to Jewish victims of the Nazis and to the Jewish state. Begin believed that negotiating directly with the Germans would compromise Jewish dignity, the only thing many Jews felt they kept after the Holocaust. Despite Herut's role as the leading opposition party, Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion refused to accept Begin and Herut as coalition partners in his government. Begin played a key role in establishing the Gahal faction (a merger of Herut and the more progressive Liberal Party) in 1965, which helped legitimize his hard-line views among Israel’s middle class.

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Begin developed a reputation as a gifted orator, writer, and political leader. He remained the leader of the opposition in parliament until the eve of the Six-Day War of 1967, when he joined the national unity government of Prime Minster Levi Eshkol, who had succeeded Ben-Gurion in 1963. Begin and his Gahal colleagues opposed the government’s acceptance of a proposal from the United States that implied Israel’s willingness to consider withdrawing from some of the territory gained in the Six-Day War, and Begin resigned from the government in August 1970. In 1973 Gahal joined with several smaller right-wing parties to form the Likud (Unity) opposition bloc, and Begin became its leader.

III

Prime Minister of Israel

Begin was chosen as Israel's first nonsocialist prime minister in 1977, when the Likud bloc won the elections. He welcomed Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat to Jerusalem in November of that year, becoming the first Israeli prime minister to meet officially and publicly with an Arab head of state. As a result of ensuing peace negotiations, Begin, along with Sadat and U.S. president Jimmy Carter, signed the Camp David Accords in September 1978. Begin and Sadat shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts. The accords provided a framework for peace between Egypt and Israel and resulted in the establishment of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in March 1979. The treaty brought peace with Israel’s strongest and most populous Arab adversary. However, the concessions required of Israel—especially returning the Sinai Peninsula, Egyptian land that Israel occupied in 1967, and uprooting the Jewish settlements there—caused him great problems within his party. Begin continued to push for Jewish settlement of the West Bank (annexed by Jordan in 1950 but occupied by Israel in 1967) and Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights (part of Syria; also occupied by Israel in 1967). In June 1981 Begin ordered the destruction of an Iraqi nuclear reactor, which he claimed was preparing to build nuclear weapons for use against Israel. While serving as prime minister, Begin also acted as minister of foreign affairs (1979-1980) and minister of defense (1980-1981).

Reelected as prime minister in July 1981, Begin authorized an invasion of Lebanon in 1982 to secure Israel's northern border and protect the population in Galilee from attacks by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) originating in Lebanon. As the war in Lebanon dragged on, international criticism mounted, and substantial casualties and financial drain caused friction within Israel. Although the United States disagreed with Israel on the situation in Lebanon and other issues associated with the Arab-Israeli conflict, U.S. economic and military assistance and political and diplomatic support rose to then unprecedented levels during Begin’s tenure.

In September 1983 Begin decided to step down. Most Israelis were surprised; at the time of his resignation Begin was the most popular and highly regarded of Israeli politicians. Although he gave no formal reason for his resignation, Begin seemed to be severely affected by growing medical problems, the death of his wife in 1982, Israel’s high inflation and debt levels, and the continuing casualties suffered by Israeli forces that remained in Lebanon. He spent the remainder of his life in virtual seclusion.

Begin’s writings include Mered (1950; The Revolt, 1951), describing the struggle against the British in Palestine, and Be-Leilot Levanim (1953; White Nights, 1957), about his wartime experiences in Europe.