ENGLISH PROJECT

Menachem Begin

Submitted by: Liroy Assaf & Niv Almog

Submitted to Miriam Duanis

Submitted on February 1st, 2021

Liroy’s Introduction:

Throughout history, there have been people who have influenced the way we live. Menachem Begin is one of these people.

I chose to prepare this research project on Menachem Begin for several reasons. To begin with, I think Menachem Begin was one of the most popular Prime Minister’s that have been in Israel and I always wanted to know about him more.

There are a number of things that I already know about Menachem Begin.

Firstly, I know that he was the 18^th Prime Minister of Israel. In addition, I know that he won a Nobel Prize. I expect to learn new and interesting things about Menachem Begin. First and Foremost, I expect to find out where and how he lived his younger life. Also, I want to learn about his journey to how he got the peace and Nobel Prize. Finally, I would like to discover how he dealt with so many tasks and problems at once, which he dealt with perfectly.

Menachem Begin has left his mark on the world. I am looking forward to finding out more about him.

Niv’s Introduction:

Throughout history, there have been people who have influenced the way we live. Menachem Begin is one of these people.

I chose to prepare this research project on Menachem Begin for several reasons. To begin with, Menachem Begin is a very important man and my parents admire him, which intrigued me even more to find out what he has done and to know more about this person.

There are a number of things that I already know about Menachem Begin. Firstly, I know that he was the prime minister of Israel. In addition, I know that we signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979.

I expect to learn new and interesting things about Menachem Begin. First and foremost, I expect to find out what his vision was. Also, I want to learn what changes he wanted to make in the country. Finally, I would like to discover why he retired. Menachem Begin has left his mark on the world. I am looking forward to finding out more about him.

Biography – Menachem Begin

 Menachem Begin was the sixth Prime Minister of Israel, chairman of the Herut and Likud movements, minister in Israeli governments, commander of the Irgun during the struggle for the British Mandate. He signed the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt and he was the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978.  He applied a law that the state’s judicial and administration law will apply in the Golan Heights and ordered the Iraqi nuclear reactor to be destroyed in 1981.

Menachem Begin was born on August 16th, 1913 to Zeev Dov and Hassia Biegun in Brest-Litovsk in the Russian Empire back at that time. Today it is Brest, Belarus. He had two older siblings, his brother Herzl and his sister Rachel. His father was a timber merchant and a community leader. His mother had a Dynasty of Distinguished Rabbis. Begin learned a year of a traditional cheder education and then started studying at a “Tachkemoni” school, associated with the religious Zionist movement. In his childhood, Begin was a member of the Zionist scouts movement Hashomer Hatzair. He was a member of Hashomer Hatzair until the age of 13 because it became a Marxist-oriented movement.

At 16, he joined Betar and even became the commander of the Brisk Headquarters.  In 1931, Begin started studying Law at the University of Warsaw.  At the time he was studying he earned his living by tutoring but it was not enough. He slept on park benches and had a tough time. But he still was active and was among the head organizers of the self-defense of Jewish students against anti-Semitic rioters.  In March, 1939, Begin was selected to be Betar representative in Poland when he was 26 years old. Begin entered the movement with 70,000 others and Begin became their leader for half of them. Begin and his team wanted to go to Israel and continue their service there, but they couldn’t and had to stay in Poland for some time. On May 29 1939, Begin married Aliza Arnold. They met because of her father who was the head of the revisionist party in the city. Begin and his wife and the members of Betar commission had to move from their city because of the German army and they went to Vilna.Begin was offered to go to Israel but he wanted to stay in Vilna to try to build up the movement there. In July 1940 Lithuania became a Soviet republic and Begin and his wife had to leave out of force. They hid until the Soviet force trailed and found them. They took Begin to a prison called Lukishki and he stayed for 8 months. After that he was sentenced for trial in Absentia and sentenced to go to a labor camp for 8 years.

He was sent to Pechora in northern Russia. Begin wrote a book about his time there which is call “white nights”. In 1941 the Germans entered the Soviet Union, which forced Polish prisoners to be released and join the Polish army. Begin was one of them and joined the army but in April 1942 Begin he managed to go to Israel and go to his wife and family. He found out that his parents and his brother Herzl and his nephew Ari were killed. After the service to the Polish army and refusing to be the commander of Etzel, Begin was selected to be the commander of Irgun. For more than four years he lead the underground Organization at the time he was chased by the British police and Yishuv leaders and his family had to hide in secret locations. Begin even had fake identities such as “Rabbi Israel Sassover” and “Yonah Konigshofer”. On February 1, 1944, Begin announced that the British rule in Israel would be handed over to a temporary Hebrew Government. They didn’t do it and two weeks after the announcement Irgun detonated a bomb at the British immigration departments in Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv and two weeks after that they destroyed the tax offices. One month after that they blew up their headquarters in Jerusalem and Haifa. The Jewish community was afraid and asked from Begin to stop. On April 1948, Begin and 600 Irgun members fought against Arab residents and the British troops. Begin gave an unforgettable speech and they won.

On May 12, 1948, three days before the evacuation of the British government in Israel, the National Council headed by David Ben-Gurion convened to discuss whether to declare the establishment of the state with the liberation from the British mandate. News of the preparations made by Arab countries to invade, as well as the lack of weapons and equipment, led the members of the Council to favorably consider postponing the announcement. Begin, the Irgun commander, said that if the National Council does not announce the establishment of the Hebrew state, the Irgun will do so. He proceeded to issue a statement in the underground newspaper “Herut”. This threat helped Ben-Gurion overcome the opposing members, and the resolution passed unanimously. On June 11, 1948, the Irgun ship “Altalena” ship left France, bearing 900 immigrants, and large cargo of weapons and ammunition. Several months earlier, members of the Haganah were informed about the ship, and negotiations were held with representatives of the government regarding distribution of the weapons. However, when the ship reached Israeli territory, the government representatives refused to cooperate with the Irgun’s requests. Upon the ship’s arrival, it was surrounded by military forces, and Begin was given a 10-minute ultimatum to decide the ship’s fate. Begin sought to contact the temporary government’s representatives, but while trying to do so, they opened fired on him and on the people on the beach. Begin boarded the ship in order to reach Tel Aviv, but the ship ran aground was under heavy fire from all sides. Begin ordered the Irgun not to return fire, but Ben-Gurion ordered the shelling of the ship. The ship caught fire and all passengers escaped into the water; some of them were shot to death between the waves.

At the age of 35, Menachem Begin was appointed party leader; the “Herut Movement, founded by the National Military Organization” was officially registered in Ministry of Interior. The main purposes of the movement: the liberation of homeland on both banks of the Jordan and establishment of the State of Israel as a Jewish country. Begin was able to transform ‘Herut’ from a powerless opposition to the main opposition, and finally into a party forming a government.

In the elections for the Knesset, Herut Movement received 14 seats. A separate list of some of the Revisionist Party which didn’t accept Begin’s leadership had not passed the threshold, and after the election a new unified framework was established: the Herut-HaTzohar Alliance.

In 1952 After the defeat of Herut with 8 seats, Begin announced that he would be the head of the Herut party.When David Ben Gurion wanted to negotiate about getting reparations from Germany. Begin was against it because he said that they can’t fix what they have done to us. On January 7^th Begin returned to Knesset and gave a speech, In the speech he said hard words against David Ben Gurion and didn’t take them back which led to a three months ban.  In July 1964 Jabotinsky’s remains were brought to Israel after Ben Gurion didn’t care for it, but after Levi Eshkol elections it didn’t matter and he did agree to it. After the funeral Begin received a lot of support from it. In 1965, after a decade of disagreement, representatives of Herut and the Liberal Party decided to create a single parliamentary bloc – Gahal –headed by Menachem Begin.

This step made Begin the first true alternative to challenge the Mapai government. However, in the sixth parliamentary elections, the Herut-Liberal bloc received 26 seats, although predictions had them at a higher number.

In May 1967, following the downfall in the security situation and in light of the threat of an Arab war against Israel, Menachem Begin approached Levi Eshkol and requested that Ben-Gurion be included in the government in order bring renewed hope to the public. Eshkol declined, but requested to add Gahal to a National Unity Government, and Begin requested the defense management be handed to Moshe Dayan.

On June 1^st Begin began to join government meetings. On June 5^th, the day the Six Day War broke out, he was sworn in as a minister. His contribution was crucial in making Jerusalem ours again and the decision to unite the city. Before the election for the 8 Knesset, the “Likud” was established. The Knesset now consisted of several political parties. The election results showed further increased the Likud’s power; Likud won 39 seats compared to 51 seats for Labor. Begin announced that for the first time, there is a solid majority of members who oppose the idea of dividing Western Israel.

On the night of May 17, 1977, after running in 8 elections, Begin scored a great victory and became the leader of the majority in the Knesset. Porters calls   were voiced within the leftist camps, such as the call of one of its senior leaders, Yitzhak Ben Aharon: “The people made a mistake”. A month later a new government was introduced to the Knesset. It was accepted in good faith and Begin became the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. His first decision as prime minister was making a gesture towards refugees from Vietnam rejected by many countries. Begin ordered to absorb sixty-six refugees who were collected aboard an Israeli merchant ship.  Begin later ordered the absorption of 1700 more Vietnamese refugees. In a dramatic press conference held on October 29th, Begin and Minister of Finance Simha Erlich announced the first move was to make the Israeli economy generally a Western economy, driven by private initiative. On the political level, Begin announced that his first task was making peace with the Arab states. In August 1977, Begin attended diplomatic meetings in Romania, which gave rise to negotiations with Morocco and led to a meeting with King Hassan. Later, Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan was sent to Morocco to meet with an adviser to Sadat, Hassan Tuhami.

Policy changes led to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat saying that he is ready to go to the Knesset and start direct negotiations with Israel. Begin responded to the call, and on Saturday night of November 19, 1977, the Egyptian President landed in Israel.

With the aim of reaching a peace agreement with Egypt, US President Jimmy Carter called for a conference at Camp David. At the end of the conference, a framework agreement for peace with Egypt and a framework agreement for peace in the Middle East were signed, which included proposed autonomy for the Palestinians. The agreements weren’t signed without some drama: Carter intended to include an appendix which puts in doubt the status of Jerusalem. Begin clearly stated his refusal to include the appendix, and threatened to leave the conference.

The success of Begin and Sadat to promote peace between their two countries garnered the two leaders with the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded to them in Oslo, Norway. After detailed negotiations and the bringing of the agreement to the Knesset for approval, it was signed on March 26, 1979. The peace treaty with Egypt was signed at the White House in Washington.  On June 7, 1981 Begin and the government destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor which was a risky move for them and led to world criticism from the world but after some time the world knew it was for a good cause. In the elections that were held on June 30, 1981, the Likud was once again the biggest of all, with 48 seats, and Menachem Begin was elected prime minister again. On November 13, 1982 Aliza Begin, Menachem Begin’s wife, died. Aliza suffered for many years and died of severe lung disease, when Menachem was on an official visit to the United States.

Aliza was buried in accord to her will, besides underground fighters Meir Feinstein and Moshe Barzani on the Mount of Olives. On August 28, 1983, Begin announced that he was retiring from everything public life. The resignation was submitted on September 15 of the same year. In his last years, he withdrew to his apartment in Jerusalem, and came out only to visit the grave of his wife, at an annual memorial service. Family members, relatives and a handful of friends visited him from time to time. In his last 18 months of life he lived in Tel Aviv, with his daughter Leah. On the 4^th of Adar Bet 5752 (9 March 1992) Menachem Begin passed away. In accordance with his will, he was buried on the Mount of Olives. A simple Jewish funeral ceremony was held in the presence of thousands. Begin requested to be buried near resistance fighters Meir Feinstein and Moshe Barzani. He was buried beside his wife, Aliza.

Our Figure’s Influence On Us:

THE “CHAHCHAHIM” SPEECH

 Last night in this square stood a young actor, what’s his name? Doo doo? Dudu, Tu Paz, Dudu Topaz, here he said the following, there was silence in the air, hear, Dudu Topaz, in the ears of the hundred thousand members of the Maarac, he says the following: “The Chahchahim, they are in Methodat Zehev, here … are the soldiers and commanders of the combat units.”

I will confess before you, until this morning I did not hear the word ” what did he say there? “, and I didn’t know what it meant, In the underground, during the uprising, Galili asked me, after consulting with Natan Yellin Moore, his memory of blessing, on behalf of the Leh”I, when they planned operations against the British government, and he told me: How did you solve the problem of eastern Jews in the Irgun? And I look at him in bewilderment, and say to him, Israel, what are you asking? What problem? And he said: you didn’t hear? The problem of the Mizrahi Jews.

So, I say to him: What problem? We have no problem! We are all brothers, we are all Jews, we are all equal, we are all! … The largest census in the provinces – Yemenite! Uzi was Spanish. Gidi, who did the historic operation of the King David Hotel was Spanish. The superintendent of all the prisoners in Latrun was a Yemenite and all our boys stood still before him! What problem? We have no problem! We are all Jews! We are all brothers! We are all warriors! But hear, when he, what was his name, Du Do To Paz, said the folly, the nonsense and his evil spirits, all the crowd that stood here last night, cheered. Now I’ll tell Dudu Topaz who he meant.

Members of our Eastern community were heroic warriors, even in the underground organization, among them there are people who hanged in the gallows, who sang the song of hope until the last moment of their life, and amazed the world and its fullness with their exemplary heroism. And they went to prisons, to concentration camps, they fought and did not break, they cried out to the British judges the words: We do not recognize your rule at all. They must leave the Land of Israel from here! Feinstein was of European descent, as it is called, Ashkenazi. Moshe Barzani was a Spaniard from Iraq. The night after they were sentenced to death, and had to be taken down from the gallows in the morning, and the rabbi was an old man, he said he would come to take them down, and they did not want to hurt the rabbi, they opened a hand grenade in their hearts: fight! Ashkenazim? Iraqis? Jews! Siblings! Warriors!

Will any employee of the lineup stand up and abuse and desecrate the name? The members of the Mizrahi community are among the best fighters in the IDF, they together with Arik Sharon crossed the Suez Canal and moved to the other side. He commanded them, one of the best fighters in Israel! And now we will tell in front of all the people and the wild crowd of the Maarach playing cheers, what did he say there? Chahchahim, Chahchahim, that is how he called them, “The Chahchahim deserve to be regimental policemen” same as pogue, pogues don’t even fight.

And where was Mrs. Shoshana Arbeli? Who is in second place on the Maarac list, and where were the others? Why did they not leave this meeting in protest?

No one has desecrated the name of god to such an extent, yet no one has harmed the dignity of an entire tribe in Israel, as the Maarach did last night in this place. What I’m asking you to do is, tomorrow, from morning to evening, make a phone call. What you need to do is call all your acquaintances in Jerusalem and Haifa and Rishon Lezion and Ness Ziona, and in Rehovot and Be’er Sheva. Just tell them what Dudu Topaz said here, the whole people of Israel must know this, one sentence in all: “Everyone is a thief in Methodat Zehev.” We were lucky to be in Methodat zehev…

 Reflective Writing:

 We found the preparation of this project worthwhile for several reasons.

First of all, the presentation helped us overcome the fear of speaking before an audience and helped us improve our English capabilities. Second of all, while preparing this project we learned a lot of interesting facts about an important figure such as Menachem Begin and about politics in general.

We learnt many things while working on the project.

Firstly, we learnt about the actions Menachem Begin took that made him become the 6^th Prime Minister of Israel and one of the most memorable politicians in Israeli politics. Secondly, we learnt a lot of new words that expanded our vocabulary.

We developed a number of skills during our work on this project.

 I learned how to interview a person for the first time. We also improved our searching skills on the Internet. Furthermore, we learned how to create our own Kahoot quiz.

We enjoyed working together in a group for a number of reasons. First, it’s always good to work with someone who can back you up and go over your mistakes. Second, working with others enables you to pool your ideas and see problems from different perspectives.

 On the one hand, there were things we enjoyed while preparing this project. First of all, we enjoyed watching Menachem Begin’s charismatic and inspirational speeches. Second of all, we enjoyed reading interesting details about Menachem Begin personal life.

On the other hand, there were things we enjoyed less while working on the project. We didn’t enjoy presenting the presentation because our fear of facing an audience. We also disliked preparing the Timeline because it took too much time to do.

In conclusion, we are grateful that we had the opportunity to prepare this project about Menachem Begin. We learned about his interesting life and how he changed Israel for the better.

Bibliography:

 Wikipedia: Menachem Begin – Wikipedia

 Begin Center: מרכז מורשת מנחם בגין בירושלים – הדרך שלו המסע שלנו. (begincenter.org.il)

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