Information Center of the Institute of Contemporary History ; Menachem Begin, former Prime Minister of Israel, was born in 1913 in Brest-Litovsk, Poland, which is historically known as a region. His father was a staunch supporter of Zionist thought and was murdered by the Germans. After completing his primary education, he entered the University of Warsaw and continued his studies in law. Begin joined the Zionist movement Beitar in 1929. This movement encouraged young Jews to immigrate to the Palestinian territories. He was a supporter of Revisionist Zionism, led by Vladimir Jabotinsky, who had broken away from the International Zionist Organization, which was led by Weizmann, and was critical of it. Begin had more radical political positions than Jabotinsky and even criticized him in 1938. [1]
The Presidency of Aragon
With the outbreak of World War II and the German invasion of Poland, Begin was among those who sought refuge in Russia. In 1940, the Soviet intelligence and security service arrested him and sent him to a labor camp, but when Germany invaded the Soviet Union, he was released from prison and joined the army of a Polish general. A year later, in 1942, he entered the Palestinian territories in the guise of a soldier and worked in the Jewish military organization known as Argun. This organization followed the International Zionist Organization led by Vladimir Jabotinsky politically and intellectually. Begin rose rapidly in the Argun and a year later he took over the leadership of this military organization. [2]
Deir Yassin Massacre
It was in this position that he carried out the massacre of Palestinian Muslims, which became known as the Deir Yassin Massacre.
Menachem was among those who strongly opposed the British mandate over the Palestinian territories, and for this reason, in 1945, along with a number of other radical Zionists, he founded the Jewish Resistance Movement.
Menachem was among those who strongly opposed the British mandate over the Palestinian territories.
This movement consisted of Argonne and other secret organizations for underground activities against England. Argonne blew up the David Shah Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946, which was the headquarters of the British forces. Begin himself said that he had a dream about David and was asked to work to establish a Jewish state. For this reason, he also targeted the David Hotel. In this attack, 91 people were killed, 28 of whom were British, 41 Arabs and 17 Jews. The rest were from other countries. Interestingly, a case was filed for Begin’s terrorist act, but almost two years later, with the establishment of the fake state of Israel, the case remained silent. It was Argonne’s approach that caused the large Haganah organization, which was cooperating with England to establish a Jewish state, to cut ties with Argonne and the Jewish resistance movement. [3]
Membership in the Israeli Knesset
With the seizure of Palestinian lands and the establishment of the illegitimate Israeli regime in these areas, Begin turned to political activity and in 1948 he founded the Harut or Freedom Movement, which became the most important right-wing party in Israel. He took over the leadership of the party and in 1949 entered the first Israeli parliament, the Knesset. He retained his membership in the Knesset until nearly 35 years later, when he retired from politics. It was in 1952 that a disagreement arose in the Israeli Knesset over the payment of reparations to Germany in World War II. Interestingly, by launching the protest, he violated the principles of democracy, of which he himself was one of the founders, and for this reason, to some extent, distrust arose towards him. [4]
By the way, leaving aside this incident, in 1955, Menachem Begin, as the leader of the largest opposition party in the Knesset, effectively led the opposition to the government of the time in the Knesset. Interestingly, as the leader of the party, he also adopted a dictatorial approach and marginalized or expelled all his political rivals in the party. People such as Ari Jabotinsky, Halil Kook, Shmuel Tamer, and Ezer Weizmann were among these rivals. He never established a good relationship with the then Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion , who also headed the Labor Party, and was unable to have any relations, even minimal, with the ruling party. The difference was so great that Ben-Gurion completely ignored the opposition party, Harut, in the coalition cabinets he formed.
A case was filed for Begin’s terrorist act, but almost two years later, with the establishment of the fake state of Israel, the case remained silent. It was this approach of Arghun that caused the large Haganah organization, which was cooperating with England to establish a Jewish state, to cut ties with Arghun and the Jewish resistance movement.
He even avoided mentioning Menachem Begin by name. Interestingly, whenever Ben-Gurion wanted to address Begin, he would introduce him as someone who sat next to Pavar, a member of the Knesset, and thus avoided mentioning Begin by name.
Presence in the government
In light of what was said, Menachem Begin formed a coalition with the country’s Liberal Party in 1965 and named it Hakan. This process continued until Begin entered Levi Eshkol’s cabinet in 1967, on the eve of the war with the Arabs. This war, which was the third Arab-Israeli war, somehow led Begin from the Knesset to the government. He remained in the wartime government’s cabinet until 1970, but in August 1970 he resigned from Golda Meir’s cabinet in protest at the acceptance of the plan by US Secretary of State William Rogers, which included Israel’s withdrawal from the territories occupied in 1967. In 1973, a party called “Likud” was formed, which brought together a number of right-wing parties. The party was headed by Menachem Begin, who in a sense became the party’s leader, but what helped Begin come to power in the Zionist regime was the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, which took place in October 1973. After this war and the discussions that arose about revising the policy of the fake Israeli regime, the ground and the basis for Menachem Begin to come to power were prepared. [5]
Menachem Begin was the Prime Minister
in 1977, when Menachem Begin was able to gain power for the first time when the Likud Party won the Israeli elections. As mentioned, Begin was the chairman of this party and he was tasked with forming a cabinet in Israel for the first time. Thus, Begin was placed at the top of the power pyramid in Tel Aviv as Prime Minister and began a new activity. As a result of this victory, Revisionist Zionism, by chanting ethnic slogans, was able to defeat pragmatic Zionism, which was concerned with political realities and expediency. In a sense, it can be said that with the victory of the Likud Party, radical and hardline parties gained the upper hand in the Israeli political scene, and moderate parties were placed in a weak position. The Likud party remained in power until 1992, and only for four years—from 1984 to 1988—did it agree to share power with the Labor Party. The party’s main slogan remained unchanged throughout all these years, stating that the right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel is eternal and indisputable. [6]
During his term as prime minister, Menachem Begin tried to correct the harsh image he had created in international forums; for this reason, he traveled to several European countries and tried to present himself as a figure capable of solving the problems of the Arabs and the Israelis. In fact, he
Whenever Ben-Gurion wanted to address Begin, he would introduce him as someone who sits next to Power, a member of the Knesset.
This was intended to send the message to the international community that peace could be achieved through him. His efforts in this regard were ultimately effective, and he was able to remove one of the most important Arab countries, Egypt, from the fight against Israel. With the help of the United States, Begin convinced Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to meet at Camp David and sign a peace agreement. This meeting was mediated by US President Jimmy Carter , and the two parties signed a peace agreement. According to this peace agreement, Egypt stopped fighting the occupying Palestinian regime and recognized it, and in return, returned to Egypt the usurper regime of the Sinai Desert, which it had taken from Egypt in the war with the Arabs. [7] This was why the Nobel Peace Prize was jointly awarded to Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat in 1979, and the two were called the so-called harbingers of peace. This was in a situation where the Islamic community had committed many atrocities, but this was not the end of the matter.
After Egypt withdrew from the conflict, Begin planned to end the Palestinian resistance. In June 1982, he launched a military attack on Lebanon to force Syrian forces out of the country. Many Lebanese were killed in the attack, and the Lebanese government was eventually forced to make peace with Israel. However, the Lebanese Shiites inflicted heavy casualties on the Israeli forces, and the peace agreement was effectively nullified. In September 1983, Begin resigned from power and left Israeli politics forever. He finally met his tragic end in 1993, at the age of eighty, and disappeared from the face of the earth. [8]
Footnotes:
[1] Javad Salehi, Memoirs of Menachem Begin , Tehran, Pasargad Publications, 1992, pp. 5-15. [2 ] The Editors Encyclopedia Britannica, Menachem Begin:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Menachem-Begin
[3] Gay Atwell, Diryasin: A Forgotten Tragedy and Its Contemporary Meaning , translated by Manouchehr Gharib, Mashhad, Toos Publications, pp. 10-50. [4 ] The Editors Encyclopedia Britannica, Ibid. [5] Gideon Aran, Jewish Zionist Fundamentalism , translated by Ahmad Tadayin, Tehran, Hermes Publications, 1999, pp. 19-21. [6] Ibid. [7] Mohammad Ali Mohtadi, “Understanding Israel’s Domestic and Foreign Policies,” Quarterly Journal of Middle East Studies , Vol. 3 (Winter 1994), p. 478. [8 ] Menachem Begin, Al-Irhab: Yawmiyyat Qadat al-‘Adu, Translated by Munir Bahjat Haidar, Beirut, 1983, p.51.
