(1913-08-16)16 August 1913 Brest, Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire (present day Belarus)
Died
9 March 1992(1992-03-09) (aged 78) Tel Aviv, Israel
Spouse
Aliza Arnold
(m. 1939; died 1982)
Children
3, including Ze'ev Binyamin
Alma mater
University of Warsaw
Signature
Military service
Allegiance
Poland
Yishuv
Branch/service
Anders' Army (1941–1942)
Irgun (1943–1948)
Rank
Corporal
Leader of the Irgun
Battles/wars
Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine 1947–48 civil war in Mandatory Palestine 1948 Arab–Israeli War
Menachem Begin's voice
Begin on Israel–United States relations Recorded 10 September 1981
Menachem Begin (Hebrew: מְנַחֵם בֵּגִיןMenaḥem Begin, pronounced[menaˈχemˈbeɡin]ⓘ; Polish: Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937);[1][2] Russian: Менахем Вольфович Бегин, romanized: Menakhem Volfovich Begin; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister 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.[3] Later, the Irgun fought the Arabs during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine and, as its chief, Begin was described by the British government as the "leader of the notorious terrorist organisation". It declined him an entry visa to the United Kingdom between 1953 and 1955. However, Begin's overtures of friendship eventually paid off and he was granted a visa in 1972, five years prior to becoming prime minister.[4]
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 Labor 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 had been 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,[5] Begin grew increasingly isolated.[6] 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.
^"Брестский краевед обнаружил в архиве польский паспорт Менахема Бегина". planetabelarus.by.
^"Poland's urban legend about Menachem Begin". blogs.timesofisrael.com.
^John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, at 102 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2007).
^Oren, Amir (7 July 2011). "British Documents Reveal: Begin Refused Entry to U.K. in 1950s". Haaretz.
^Gwertzman, Bernard. "Christian Militiamen Accused of a Massacre in Beirut Camps; U.S. Says the Toll Is at Least 300" Archived 2 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine. The New York Times. 19 September 1982.
^Thompson, Ian. Primo Levi: A Life. 2004, page 436.
Aliza Begin (Hebrew: עליזה בגין; née Arnold; 25 March 1920 – 13 November 1982) was the wife of Prime Minister of Israel, MenachemBegin. Aliza was born...
mid-1970s. The doctrine itself was enunciated by Israeli Prime Minister MenachemBegin in June 1981, following Israel's attack on Iraq's nuclear reactor Osirak...
Kiryat MenachemBegin, named after former Israeli Prime Minister MenachemBegin and also known as Kiryat HaMemshala, is a complex of government buildings...
former Prime Minister of Israel MenachemBegin. Ze'ev Binyamin (Benny) Begin was born in Jerusalem to Aliza and MenachemBegin. He studied geology at the Hebrew...
major right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by MenachemBegin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing parties. Likud's...
1977 elections; first, he tried to return to the Likud and replace MenachemBegin at the head of the party. He suggested to Simha Erlich, who headed the...
Shamir joined the Revisionist Zionist Irgun paramilitary group led by MenachemBegin. During World War II the Irgun split over the question of whether to...
Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Yiddish: מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן; Modern Hebrew: מנחם מנדל שניאורסון; April 5, 1902 OS – June 12, 1994; AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3...
operation began during this time. After MenachemBegin became Prime Minister in 1977 the preparations intensified; Begin authorized the building of a full-scale...
twice and whom he succeeded as president in 1970. In 1978, Sadat and MenachemBegin, Prime Minister of Israel, signed a peace treaty in cooperation with...
MenachemBegin and Yitzhak Shamir, two former Israeli prime ministers and members of Likud, were both inspired by Jabotinsky's ideas. MenachemBegin opposed...
1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. Herut was founded by MenachemBegin on 15 June 1948 as a successor to the Revisionist Irgun, a militant...
time it had become Likud. In 1977, he became Defense Minister under MenachemBegin. During his term, Israel developed the IAI Lavi fighter and launched...
the cemetery died after the war. Kiryat MenachemBegin, named after former Israeli Prime Minister MenachemBegin and also known as Kiryat HaMemshala, is...
ultimately, these aspects of the truce were ignored by both sides). MenachemBegin decided therefore to postpone the arrival of the ship, and Irgun staff...
The MenachemBegin Heritage Center is the official state memorial commemorating MenachemBegin, Israel’s sixth Prime Minister. The Center is located on...
(first term: 3 years and 18 days; second term: 3 years and 114 days) MenachemBegin: 6 years and 113 days Levi Eshkol: 5 years and 247 days Ariel Sharon:...
signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister MenachemBegin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at...
Avraham Stern. In 1942, the USSR released the Revisionist Zionist leader MenachemBegin from the Gulag and he went to Palestine, taking command of the Etzel...
founding in 1965 until the establishment of Likud in 1973. It was led by MenachemBegin. Gahal was formed by an alliance of Herut and the Liberal Party towards...
Betarim in their youth, most notably prime ministers Yitzhak Shamir and MenachemBegin, an admirer of Jabotinsky. Today, Betar promotes Jewish leadership on...
preparedness; after some time he resigned. In 1977, following the election of MenachemBegin as Prime Minister, Dayan was expelled from the Israeli Labor Party because...
highlighted the polarization in the country. Prior to the elections, MenachemBegin's government faced instability due to internal conflict amongst coalition...
led by MenachemBegin, who had headed Betar in Poland before arriving in Palestine with the Polish forces in exile and going underground. Begin believed...
diplomat and adviser to prime ministers MenachemBegin and Yitzhak Shamir before founding the MenachemBegin Heritage Center. Hurwitz was born in 1924...
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