76 Facts About Menachem Begin

Menachem Begin proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944, against the British mandatory government, which was opposed by the Jewish Agency.

Menachem 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.

Menachem Begin remained in opposition in the eight consecutive elections, but became more acceptable to the political center.

Later, Menachem Begin's government promoted the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Menachem 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.

Menachem Begin was born to Zeev Dov and Hassia Begun in what was then Brest-Litovsk in the Russian Empire.

Menachem Begin's father, a timber merchant, was a community leader, a passionate Zionist, and an admirer of Theodor Herzl.

Menachem Begin was a member of Hashomer Hatzair until the age of 13, and at 16, he joined Betar.

Menachem Begin studied law at the University of Warsaw, where he learned the oratory and rhetoric skills that became his trademark as a politician, and viewed as demagogy by his critics.

Menachem Begin's rise within Betar was rapid: at 22, he shared the dais with his mentor at the Betar World Congress in Krakow.

Menachem Begin unsuccessfully attempted to smuggle 1,500 Jews into Romania at the end of August 1939.

Menachem Begin was accused of being an "agent of British imperialism" and sentenced to eight years in the Soviet gulag camps.

Much later in life, Menachem Begin recorded and reflected upon his experiences in the interrogations and life in the camp in his memoir White Nights.

Menachem Begin was later sent with the army to Palestine via the Persian Corridor, where he arrived in May 1942.

Menachem Begin quickly made a name for himself as a fierce critic of the dominant Zionist leadership for being too cooperative with the British, and argued that the only way to save the Jews of Europe, who were facing extermination, was to compel the British to leave so that a Jewish state could be established.

Menachem Begin assumed the Irgun's leadership in 1944, determined to force the British government to remove its troops entirely from Palestine.

Menachem Begin had studied the Irish War of Independence and the Indian independence movement, and, while planning the rebellion with Irgun commanders, devised a strategy of leverage he believed would force the British out.

Menachem Begin banked on the international media being attracted to the action, which he referred to as turning Palestine into a "glass house", with the world looking in.

Ultimately, the British would be forced to choose between continued repression or withdrawal, and Menachem Begin was certain that in the end, the British would leave.

Gradually, shamed at participating in what was viewed as a collaborationist campaign, the enthusiasm of the Haganah began to wane, and Menachem Begin's assumptions were proven correct.

Menachem Begin repeatedly threatened to declare independence if the Jewish Agency did not do so.

Menachem Begin had been forced into hiding immediately prior to the declaration of revolt, when Aliza noticed that their house was being watched.

Menachem Begin initially lived in a room in the Savoy Hotel, a small hotel in Tel Aviv whose owner was sympathetic to the Irgun's cause, and his wife and son were smuggled in to join him after two months.

Menachem Begin decided to grow a beard and live openly under an assumed name rather than go completely into hiding.

Menachem Begin was aided by the fact that the British authorities possessed only two photographs of his likeness, of which one, which they believed to be his military identity card, bore only a slight resemblance to him, according to Begin, and were fed misinformation by Yaakov Meridor that he had had plastic surgery, and were thus confused over his appearance.

Menachem Begin's failure to respond was a blow to Even's prestige, and a clash was now inevitable.

Menachem Begin had meanwhile boarded the Altalena, which was headed for Tel Aviv where the Irgun had more supporters.

Menachem Begin, who was on deck, agreed to leave the ship only after the last of the wounded had been evacuated.

Menachem Begin agreed the Irgun soldiers would be fully integrated with the IDF and not kept in separate units.

Revisionist 'purists' alleged nonetheless that Menachem Begin was out to steal Jabotinsky's mantle and ran against him with the old party.

In November 1948, Menachem Begin visited the US on a campaigning trip.

The personal animosity between Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin, going back to the hostilities over the Altalena Affair, underpinned the political dichotomy between Mapai and Herut.

Menachem Begin was a keen critic of Mapai, accusing it of coercive Bolshevism and deep-rooted institutional corruption.

Menachem Begin vehemently opposed the agreement, claiming that it was tantamount to a pardon of Nazi crimes against the Jewish people.

Menachem Begin's behavior was strongly condemned in mainstream public discourse, reinforcing his image as a provocateur.

Forty years after the assassination attempt, Menachem Begin was implicated as the organizer of the assassination attempt in a memoir written by one of the conspirators, Elieser Sudit.

Menachem 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 Menachem Begin serving in the cabinet for the first time, as a Minister without Portfolio.

In 1973, Menachem 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.

Personifying the antithesis to the Alignment's socialist ethos, Menachem 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.

On 17 May 1977 the Likud, headed by Menachem Begin, won the Knesset elections by a landslide, becoming the biggest party in the Knesset.

Menachem Begin 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.

On 17 July 1978, the Israeli cabinet met to discuss rising inflation, but Menachem Begin, declaring that "you cannot manage economics over the housewife's back", halted all proposals.

Menachem Begin's government has been credited with starting a trend that would move Israel towards a capitalist economy that would see the rise of a consumer culture and a pursuit of wealth and higher living standards, replacing a culture that scorned capitalism and valued social, as well as government restrictions to enforce equality.

In terms of social justice the legacy of the Menachem Begin Government was arguably a questionable one.

Menachem 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.

Menachem Begin 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.

Menachem 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.

Menachem 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.

Menachem Begin authorized the construction of a full-scale model of the Iraqi reactor which Israeli pilots could practice bombing.

Menachem 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.

In June 1981, Menachem Begin ordered the destruction of the reactor.

On 6 June 1982, Menachem 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.

Menachem 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.

Menachem Begin referred to the invasion as an inevitable act of survival, often comparing Yasser Arafat to Hitler.

Menachem Begin continued to be plagued by the ill health and occasional hospitalizations that he had endured for years.

Menachem Begin subsequently retired to an apartment overlooking the Jerusalem Forest and spent the rest of his life in seclusion.

Menachem Begin's seclusion was watched over by his children and his lifetime personal secretary Yechiel Kadishai, who monitored all official requests for meetings.

Menachem Begin would meet almost no one other than close friends or family.

Menachem Begin was cared for by his daughter Leah and a housekeeper.

Menachem Begin kept up with world events by continuing his lifelong habit of listening to the BBC every morning, which had begun during his underground days, and maintaining a subscription to several newspapers.

Menachem Begin retained some political influence in the Likud party, which he used to influence it behind the scenes.

In 1990, Menachem Begin broke his hip in a fall and underwent surgery at Shaare Zedek Medical Center.

Menachem Begin was released from hospital in March 1991 and subsequently moved to an apartment in the Afeka neighborhood in Tel Aviv.

Menachem Begin gave another telephone interview, which would be the last interview of his life, in July 1991.

On 3 March 1992, Menachem Begin suffered a severe heart attack in his apartment, and was rushed to Ichilov Hospital, where he was put in the intensive care unit.

Menachem Begin arrived there unconscious and paralyzed on the left side of his body.

Menachem Begin's children were notified of his condition and immediately rushed to his side.

Menachem Begin's death was announced an hour and a half later.

Menachem Begin's coffin was carried four kilometers from the Sanhedria Funeral Parlor to Mount of Olives in a funeral procession attended by thousands of people.

Menachem Begin 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 together in jail while awaiting execution by the British.

Menachem Begin served as prime minister from 21 June 1977 through 10 October 1983, leading the 18th government during the 9th Knesset and the 19th government during the first portion of the 10th Knesset.

Menachem Begin was a member of the Knesset from 1949 through until he resigned in 1983.

Menachem Begin was twice the Knesset's opposition leader.

Menachem Begin was the founding leader of Herut, and served as the party's leader until 1983.

Menachem Begin was made leader of the Likud coalition at its founding in 1973, and held that position until 1983.