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BEGINNING
WITH BEGIN:
WHEREIS
ISRAEL
HEADED
NOW?
Here is an on-the-spot report
from the Middle East written
by a Plain Truth contributing
editor who was in Israel ear–
lier this year at the time of that
nation's surprising national
elections.
by
Dr. Charles V. Dorothy
E
xcitement fills the night air.
Evening darkness will not deter
many Israelis from spending
most or all of the níght listening to
national election results. The Labor
Party, in power for nearly thirty
years, is expected to triumph once
again, this time installing its candi–
date, Shimon Peres, in the office of
prime minister. However, a well- in–
formed Israelí friend tells our grou p
that Labor will almost certainly lose
sorne seats due to the recent banlc
account scandal surrounding the
The
PLAIN TRUTH August-September 1977
wife of former Prime Minister Ra–
bio. Wbat will the morning bring?
Mornlng Beglns wlth Begln
Surprise! The new prime minister
will be, in all likelibood, a roan
whom the British once sought to ex–
ecute, a m.an who had a price on his
head in 1948- Menahem (Men-nah–
chem) Begin (Bay-gin, with a hard
g,
as in begin), Jeader of the Likud
("unity") Party whicb has captured
43 seats of the 120-seat Knesset
(pa rliament). Begin is a powerful
orator-colorful, intriguing and
somewhat mysterious-at least to
those outside Israel.
Begin was boro in Poland in 1913,
just before World War
l.
As a law
student at Warsaw University, he
joined the yóuth organization of the
Zionist-Rev isionists who cori–
demned the principal Zionist lead–
ership as too soft,
if
not misguided.
His pa rents and a brother were
killed by the Nazis, and Begin him–
self had to ftee the now famous
Warsaw ghetto in 1940.
Findíng himself in Lithuania, he
continued Zionist activities and was
a rrested by the Russians. After his
release from this br ief imprison–
ment. Begin joi ned the Po lish
army and was sent to serve under
British comma nd in Palesti n e
where,
in
1943, he deserted and
joined the Irgun Zvai Leumi. CaUed
Jrgun for short, this guerrilla group
fought against the British to oust
them from Pa lestine.
As a person, it is said that Begin is
a man of wi t who enjoys the simple
life. He likes
to
read history and the
Bible, has a marvelous command of
both current events and historical
details (he has often been called on
to write official documents). Begin
and his wife Atiza sti ll live in the
modest three-room Tel Aviv apart–
ment they have occupied since 1946.
Reportedly he will continue to live
there "even if elected premier." The
Begins have three chi1dren (a son
and two daughters).
Terrorist or Patrlot?
The election results are inter–
preted by many here in Israel as
more a vote against the Labor sean–
da! than one for the Lilcud Party.
According to one Western diplomat,
" Begin's life is as clean as a pin ....
Everything they say about him is
true. He's kind. honest and quite
likable. But that doesn't mean he
isn't dangerous."
What kind of man is this Menahem
(Hebrew for "comforter' ') Begin?
He is, and has been, many things to
many- people. To Jewish leaders af–
ter the 1948 Israelí war for indepen–
dence, he was a tough and possibly
dangerous opposi tion leader. To the
party in power, he was often a con–
veníent scapegoat labeled as "fas–
cist." To British leaders before
independence, he was public enemy
number one in Palestine-a " terror–
ist" with a $30,000 price on his
head. To the Arabs he has long been
remembered as the leader of the Ir–
gun guerr illa force which killed
Arab citizens. To Americans he is
basically unknown. (This was dem–
onstrated by the cautious, almost
silent reaction of government offi–
cials, and by U.S. visitors to Israel:
" Menahem
who?")
To many mod–
ero Israelis, however, Begin is a na–
tional hero, a patriot who helped
foot-dragging British bureaucracy
move to malee way for the new Jew–
ish state of Israel, a courageous free–
dom fighter who helped to establish
a new home for suffering millions.
To understand why Begin pro–
volees such a variety of reactions, we
need to examine the recent histori–
cal background of events in Pales–
tine.
In 1917, the government of Great
Britain issued the Balfour Declara–
tion which allowed for "the estab–
lishment in Pa lestine of a national
home for 'Jewish people.'" Later
the same year, General Allenby
captured Jerusalem from the Turks
and delivered a most quaint docu–
ment to the then Foreign Secretary
Herbert Samuel (a Jew). The aston–
ishingly simple paper read: "Deliv–
ered to tbe Foreign Secretary, one
Palestine."
In 1920 Brita in received a League
of Nations mandate over Palestine
and placed the same Herbert Sam–
uel in charge. During the sub–
sequen! 28 years of British mandate,
the Arabs opposed the rapidly in–
creasing Jewish immigration. Arab
attacks on Jewish settlements be–
carne more frequent, causing no end
of headaches for the British. This
led to Britain's
propo~al
of a parti-
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