var s_account="msnportalencartauk"; Search View Begin, Menachem Article View To find a specific word, name, or topic in this article, select the option in your Web browser for finding within the page. In Internet Explorer, this option is under the Edit menu.
The search seeks the exact word or phrase that you type, so if you donât find your choice, try searching for a keyword in your topic or recheck the spelling of a word or name. Begin, Menachem Begin, Menachem (1913-1992), Israeli prime minister (1977-1983), who signed the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country. Begin was born on August 16, 1913, in Brest Litovsk, Russia (now Brest, Belarus), and trained in law at the University of Warsaw. Active in the Zionist movement, he became head of Betar, a Jewish youth organization, in 1939. When the Germans invaded Poland, Begin fled to Lithuania, but was arrested and held in a Soviet concentration camp (1940-1941) until he joined a Polish army formed in the USSR to fight the Nazis. By 1942 he was in Palestine, where he soon became commander of the Irgun Zvai Leumi, a guerrilla group seeking to oust the British from Palestine. After the British withdrew and the state of Israel was founded in 1948, Begin transformed the Irgun into the Herut (Freedom) party. He was elected to Israel's legislature, the Knesset, in 1949 and became a forceful conservative opposition leader; he served as minister without portfolio from 1967 to 1970. In 1973 the opposition parties formed the Likud (Unity) bloc, of which Begin was a co-leader, and when the bloc won the 1977 elections, he became prime minister. In 1978 he and the Egyptian president, Anwar al-Sadat, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their leadership in negotiations thatâwith some US helpâresulted in the signing of a peace treaty the following year. In 1981 Begin won a new term in office, and in 1982 he authorized an Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon. In failing health, despondent over his wife's death in late 1982, and beset by controversy stemming from the continued Israeli occupation of Lebanon, Begin stepped down in September 1983. He spent the rest of his life in virtual seclusion, appearing in public only rarely. | |
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