Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
Group	Mizrahi Jews (יהדות המזרח''Yahadut HaMizrach'')
Poptime	4,500,000 - 5,000,000 (estimate)
Regions	3,500,000 - 4,000,000 (including those of mixed ancestry) Middle East
Region1
Pop1	25,000
Region2
Pop2	<400
Region3
Pop3	<400
Region4
Pop4	<100
Region5
Pop5	<100
Region6
Pop6	<50
Region7
Pop7	<50 Central Asia & Caucasus
Region8
Pop8	15,000
Region9
Pop9	12,000
Region10
Pop10	1,000
Region11
Pop11	500
Region12
Pop12	100 Americas & Europe
Region13
Pop13	400,000
Region14
Pop14	250,000
Region15
Pop15	7,000
Region16
Pop16	7,000
Region17
Pop17	2,000
Langs	Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Marathi, Manipuri, Judeo-Malayalam, Dzhidi, Judæo-Arabic, Georgian, Bukhori, Judeo-Berber, Juhuri and Judæo-Aramaic
Rels	Judaism
Related	Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardi Jews, other Jewish ethnic divisions and Arabs. }}

Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahim, (), also referred to as Edot HaMizrach (Communities of the East; Mizrahi Hebrew: '''') are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa and the Caucasus. The term ''Mizrahi'' is used in Israel in the language of politics, media and some social scientists for Jews from the Arab world and adjacent, primarily Muslim-majority countries. This includes Jews from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kurdish areas, the eastern Caucasus, India, and Ethiopia. Sometimes, Sephardi Jews such as Jews from Morocco, Algeria, or Turkey are erroneously grouped into the Mizrahi category for some historical reasons.

Despite their heterogeneous origins, Mizrahi Jews generally practice rites identical or similar to traditional Sephardic Judaism, although with some differences among the minhagim of the particular communities. This has resulted in a conflation of terms, particularly in Israel, and in religious usage, where "Sephardi" is used in a broad sense to include Mizrahi Jews as well as Sephardim proper. Indeed, from the point of view of the official Israeli rabbinate, the Mizrahi rabbis in Israel are under the jurisdiction of the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel who, in most cases, is a Mizrahi Jew. Today they make up more than half of Israel's Jewish population, but before the mass immigration of 1,000,000 mostly Ashkenazi immigrants from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s they made up over 70% of Israel's Jewish population.

History and usage

"Mizrahi" is literally translated as "Eastern", מזרח (Mizraḥ), Hebrew for "east." In the past the word "Mizrahim," corresponding to the Arabic word ''Mashriqiyyun'' (Easterners), referred to the natives of Syria, Iraq and other Asian countries, as distinct from those of North Africa (''Maghrabiyyun''). For this reason some speakers object to the use of "Mizrahi" to include Moroccan Jews.

The term Mizrahim or ''Edot Hamizraḥ'', Oriental communities, grew in Israel under the circumstances of the meeting of waves of immigrants from the Ashkenazi, Sephardic and Oriental Jewish communities. In modern Israeli usage, it refers to all Jews from North African and West Asian countries, many of them Arabic-speaking Muslim-majority countries. The term came to be widely used more by so-called Mizrahi activists in the early 1990s. Since then in Israel it has become an accepted semi-official and media designation.

Many "Mizrahi" ("Oriental" Jews) today reject this (or any) umbrella and simplistic description and prefer to identify themselves by their particular country of origin, or that of their immediate ancestors, e.g. "Iranian/Persian Jew", "Iraqi Jew", "Tunisian Jew", etc., or prefer to use the old term "Sefardic" in its broader meaning.

Other designations

Many Jews identify all non-Ashkenazi Jews as Sephardim, in modern Hebrew "Sfaradim". This broader definition of "Sephardim" as including all or most Mizrahi Jews is also common in Jewish religious circles. The Ethiopian Jewish religious leaders in Israel have also joined the Mizrahi-Sefardic rite collectivities.

The reason for this classification is that most Mizrahi communities use much the same religious rituals as Sephardim proper. The prevalence of the Sephardic rite among Mizrahim is partly a result of Sephardim joining some of their communities following the 1492 expulsion from Sepharad (Spain and Portugal). Over the last few centuries, the previously distinctive rites of the Mizrahi communities were influenced, superimposed upon or altogether replaced by the rite of the Sephardim, perceived as more prestigious. Even before this assimilation, the original rite of many Jewish Oriental communities was already closer to the Sephardi rite than to the Ashkenazi one. For this reason, "Sephardim" has come to mean not only "Spanish Jews" but "Jews of the Spanish rite", just as "Ashkenazim" is used for "Jews of the German rite", whose ancestors spoke the Judeo-German, Yiddish language, whether or not they originated from Germany.

Many of the Sephardic Jews exiled from Spain resettled in greater or lesser numbers in many Arabic-speaking countries, such as Syria and Morocco. In Syria, most eventually intermarried with and assimilated into the larger established community of Arabic-speaking Jews. In North African countries, by contrast, where the Sephardim came to outnumber the pre-existing Mizrahi Jew communities it was some of the latter who assimilated into the more prosperous and prestigious Sephardic communities. In Morocco a distinction remained with the purely Sephardic ''Gerush Castilia'' of the Spanish-speaking northern strip who kept their Judeo-Spanish language known as Haketia. Either way, this assimilation, combined with the use of the Sephardic rite, led to the popular designation and conflation of most non-Ashkenazic Jewish communities from the Middle East and North Africa as "Sephardic", whether or not they were descended from Spanish Jews, which is what the terms "Sephardic Jews" and "Sepharadim" properly implied when used in the ethnic as opposed to the religious sense.

In many Arab countries, older Arabic-speaking Jewish communities distinguished between themselves and the newer arrivals speaking Judeo-Romance languages, that is, Sephardim expelled from Spain in 1492 and Portugal in 1497. The established Arabic-speaking Jews called themselves Musta'arabim (Arabic for Arabizers), while the newer Sephardi arrivals called them ''Moriscos'' (Ladino for Moorish).

The term "Arab Jews" is controversial, used for self-identification by some members of the communities concerned but strongly opposed by others due to its political, social and ideological implications (see Arab Jews).

Language

thumb|left|Kurdish Jews in Rawanduz, northern Iraq, 1905. Most of the so-called Oriental Jewish or Mizrahi communities spoke Arabic, although Arabic is now mainly used as a second language, especially by the older generation. Most of the many notable philosophical, religious and literary works of the Jews in the Orient were written in Arabic using a modified Hebrew alphabet.

Among other languages associated with Mizrahim are Judeo-Persian (Dzhidi), Georgian, Bukhori, Kurdish, Judeo-Berber, Punic language, Juhuri, Marathi, Judeo-Malayalam and called by some Judeo-Aramaic dialects. Most Persian Jews speak standard Persian.

Neo-Aramaic is a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew. It is identified as a "Jewish language", since it is the language of major Jewish texts such as the Talmud and Zohar, and many ritual recitations such as the Kaddish. Traditionally, Aramaic has been a language of Talmudic debate in yeshivoth, as many rabbinic texts are written in a mixture of Hebrew and Aramaic. As spoken by the Jews of Kurdistan, Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialects are descended from Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, as could be seen from its hundreds of reflexes in Jewish Neo-Aramaic.

By the early 1950s, virtually the entire Jewish community of Kurdistan—a rugged, mostly mountainous region comprising parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and the Caucasus, where Jews had lived since antiquity—relocated to Israel. The vast majority of Kurdish Jews, who were primarily concentrated in northern Iraq, left Kurdistan in the mass aliyah (emigration to Israel) of 1950-51. This ended thousands of years of Jewish history in what had been Assyria and Babylonia.

In 2007, an important book was published, authored by Mordechai Zaken, describing the unique relationship between Jews in urban and rural Kurdistan and the tribal society under whose patronage the Jews lived for hundreds of years. Tribal chieftains, or aghas, granted patronage to the Jews who needed protection in the wild tribal region of Kurdistan; the Jews gave their chieftains dues, gifts and services. The text provides numerous tales and examples about the skills, maneuvers and innovations used by Kurdistani Jews in their daily life to confront their abuse and extortion by greedy chieftains and tribesmen. The text also tells the stories of Kurdish chieftains who saved and protected the Jews unconditionally.

Post-1948 dispersal

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and subsequent establishment of the state of Israel, most Mizrahi Jews (900 000) were either expelled by their Arab rulers or chose to leave and immigrated to Israel. Roughly half of Israeli Jews are of Mizrahi origin.

Anti-Jewish actions by Arab governments in the 1950s and 1960s, including the expulsion of 25,000 Mizrahi Jews from Egypt after the 1956 Suez Crisis, led to the overwhelming majority of Mizrahim leaving Arab countries. They became refugees. Most went to Israel. Many Moroccan and Algerian Jews went to France. Thousands of Lebanese, Syrian and Egyptian Jews immigrated to the United States and to Brazil.

Today, as many as 40,000 Mizrahim still remain in communities scattered throughout the non-Arab Muslim world, primarily in Iran, but also Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. There are few remaining in the Arab world. About 5,000 remain in Morocco and fewer than 2,000 in Tunisia. Other countries with remnants of ancient Jewish communities with official recognition, such as Lebanon, have 1,000 or fewer Jews. A trickle of emigration continues, mainly to Israel and the United States.

Absorption into Israeli society

Refuge in Israel was not without its tragedies: "in a generation or two, millennia of rooted Oriental civilization, unified even in its diversity,” had been wiped out, writes Mizrahi scholar Ella Shohat. The trauma of rupture from their countries of origin was further complicated by the difficulty of the transition upon arrival in Israel; Mizrahi immigrants and refugees were placed in rudimentary and hastily erected tent cities (Ma'abarot) often in development towns on the peripheries of Israel. Settlement in Moshavim (cooperative farming villages) was only partially successful, because Mizrahim had historically filled a niche as craftsmen and merchants and most did not traditionally engage in farmwork. As the majority left their property behind in their home countries as they journeyed to Israel, many suffered a severe decrease in their socio-economic status aggravated by their cultural and political differences with the dominant Ashkenazi community. Furthermore, a policy of austerity was enforced at that time due to economic hardships.

Mizrahi immigrants arrived with many mother tongues. Many, especially those from North Africa and the fertile crescent, spoke Arabic dialects; those from Iran and Central Asia (Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) spoke Persian; Baghdadi Jews from India arrived with English; the Bene Israel from Maharashtra, India arrived with Marathi, Mizrahim from elsewhere brought Georgian, Gruzinic, Tajik, Juhuri and various other languages with them. Hebrew had historically been a language only of prayer for most Jews not living in Israel, including the Mizrahim. Thus, with their arrival in Israel, the Mizrahim retained culture, customs and language distinct from their Ashkenazi counterparts.

Disparities and integration

The cultural differences between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews impacted the degree and rate of assimilation into Israeli society, and sometimes the divide between Eastern European and Middle Eastern Jews was quite sharp. Segregation, especially in the area of housing, limited integration possibilities over the years. Intermarriage between Ashkenazim and Mizrahim is increasingly common in Israel and by the late 1990s 28% of all Israeli children had multi-ethnic parents (up from 14% in the 1950s). It has been claimed that intermarriage does not tend to decrease ethnic differences in socio-economic status, however that does not apply to the children of inter-ethnic marriages.

Although social integration is constantly improving, disparities persist. A study conducted by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS), Mizrahi Jews are less likely to pursue academic studies than Ashkenazi Jews. Israeli-born Ashkenazim are up to twice more likely to study in a university than Israeli-born Mizrahim. Furthermore, the percentage of Mizrahim who seek a university education remains low compared to second-generation immigrant groups of Ashkenazi origin, such as Russians. According to a survey by the Adva Center, the average income of Ashkenazim was 36 percent higher than that of Mizrahim in 2004.

Notable Mizrahim

Business people

Nissim Gaon, Swiss businessman born in Sudan

Charles Saatchi, advertising executive and art collector (born in Iraq)

Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi, advertising executive and former chairman of the British Conservative Party

Michael Kadoorie, businessman from Hong-Kong several generations but of Iraqi descent

Isaac Mizrahi, fashion designer (Egyptian Jew from Brooklyn)

Shlomo Moussaieff, Jewellery Designer/ Judaic Collector and Expert (Bukharian)

Lev Leviev, Israeli businessman of Bukharian descent

David and Simon Reuben, British businessmen born in India, from a family of Baghdadi Jews

Edmond Safra, banker from Lebanon

Shlomo Eliyahu, Israeli businessman

Entertainers

Paula Abdul, American singer and choreographer (Syrian Jewish descent)

Joe Amar, Israeli singer

Etti Ankri, Israeli pop singer

Zohar Argov, Israeli popular singer, called "the King" of the "Mizrahi" music (Yemenite)

Gali Atari, Israeli singer and actress, won the Eurovision Song Contest (from a Yemenite family)

Ehud Banai, Israeli singer and composer

Evyatar Banai, Israeli singer and composer

Yuval Banai, Israeli rock singer and composer

Yossi Banai, Israeli singer and actor (from a Persian Jewish family settled in Jerusalem)

Meir Banai, Israeli singer

Shlomo Bar, Israeli singer and composer

Sonia Benezra, French Canadian radio and TV personality

Lili Boniche, French-Algerian singer

Patrick Bruel, French pop singer

Yizhar Cohen, Israeli singer, won the Eurovision Song Contest (Yemenite family)

Emmanuelle Chriqui, Canadian actress

Shoshana Damari, Israeli singer (Yemen born)

Dana International, (Cohen) Israeli pop singer, won the Eurovision Song Contest (Yemenite family)

David D'or, Israeli pop and concert singer, countertenor (from a Jewish Libyan family)

Gad Elmaleh, Moroccan comedian, film director, and humorist

Yehoram Gaon, Israeli singer and actor.

Eyal Golan, Israel charm pop singer

Zion Golan, Israeli singer (Yemenite descent)

Hélène Grimaud, French-born concert pianist/author of Berber-Jewish father & Corsican-Jewish mother

Sarit Hadad, Israeli singer, from a Jewish family from Tunisia and Azerbaijan(Mountain Jew)

Ofra Haza, Israeli pop and oriental singer (Yemenite family)

Moshe Ivgy, Israeli cinema and theatre actor

Malika Kalantarova, Famous Tajik-Bukharian dancer (People's Artist of USSR)

Chris Kattan, U.S actor (son a Jewish-Iraqi origin father)

Chemda Khalili, singer and co-host of Keith and the Girl

Fatima Kuinova, Soviet-Bukharian singer (Merited Artist of USSR)

Mélanie Laurent, French actress and director

Yehezkel Lazarov, Israeli actor

Claude Lelouch, French cinema director

Enrico Macias, French singer and composer

Miri Messika, Israeli pop singer

Haim Moshe, Israeli-born "Mizrahi" and pop singer (Yemenite)

Shoista Mullojonova, Bukharian legendary Shashmakom Folk Singer (People's Artist of Tajikistan)

Farhat Ezekiel Nadira (Nadira), Bollywood actress of the 1940s and 50s (Baghdadi Jew from India)

Yaël Naïm, French-Israeli singer

Achinoam Nini ("Noa"), Israeli born, Yemenite pop singer

Kobi Oz, pop singer,composer and writer

Avi Peretz, Israeli Oriental and pop singer

Moshe Peretz, Israeli singer of "Oriental" and pop music

Rita, Iranian born, Israeli pop singer

Berry Sakharof, Israeli singer and composer

Jerry Seinfeld, American comedian and actor (Syrian Jewish descent)

Boaz Sharabi, Israeli singer (born, Yemenite, Tunisian & Moroccan ancestry)

Harel Skaat, Singer and "Kokhav Nolad" ("Israeli Idol") contestant (Yemenite descent)

Bahar Soomekh, Persian Jewish-American actress

Subliminal, Israeli rapper of Persian/Tunisian descent

Shimi Tavori, Israeli singer

Ninette Tayeb, Israel singer, won "A Star is Born" (Kokhav Nolad) Contest (Moroccan/Tunisian descent)

Avi Toledano, Israeli pop singer and composer, with Sefardic Moroccan roots

Elliott Yamin, American singer (Jewish Iraqi father)

Idan Yaniv, Israeli singer of Bukharian descent (Israeli Artist of 2007)

Yaffa Yarkoni, Israeli singer (from a Caucasian Jewish family)

Ariel Zilber, Israeli singer and composer (son of a Yemenite Jewish-origin mother)

Murray Perahia, famous pianist and conductor, born in Brooklyn.

Boaz Mauda, Israeli singer (Jewish Yemenite descent)

Shiri Maimon, Israeli singer (Jewish Moroccan descent)

Medicine and therapy

Baruj Benacerraf - American scientist born in Venezuela, from a Moroccan Jewish family, winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Yisrael Mordecai Safeek, American physician executive: Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Examiner.

Shalomim Y HaLahawi, Licensed Naturopathic Physician, Diplomat of the American Association of Integrative Medicine, Medical researcher, Author and Ordained Rabbi. Born of Southwestern Arabian(Oman) and Northeast African Jewish family

Politicians and military

Yekutiel Adam, Israeli general (from a Caucasian Jewish family)

Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Israeli general, current Israeli minister of Infrastructure, former minister of Defense and Israel Labor Party chairman, (Iraqi Jew), commonly called by his Arabic name "Fuad"

Aryeh Deri, former leader of Shas Party and minister of Internal Affairs, (Moroccan Jew)

Yisrael Yeshayahu Sharabi, Minister of Post and Speaker of Knesset 1970s and 80s, ethnicity/country of origin: Yemen

Les Gara, Democratic member of the Alaska State Legislature, former deputy state attorney general (Iraqi parents)

Dalia Itzik, former Knesset speaker

Avigdor Kahalani, former minister of Internal Security and decorated IDF tank commander

Moshe Katsav, former President of the State of Israel and minister of Transportation, ethnicity/country of origin: Iran

David Levy, former minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister (Moroccan Jew), minister of housing and transports

Shaul Mofaz, former Israeli Minister of Defense and chief of the IDF General Staff, Iranian Jew

Yitzhak Mordechai, retired IDF general, former minister of Defense and minister of Transportation, ethnicity/country of origin: Iraq

Dorrit Moussaieff, First Lady of Iceland (Bukharian Jew)

Abie Nathan, Israeli peace activist

Yitzhak Navon, fifth president of Israel and former minister of Education, from a Sephardic Jewish family

Shlomo Hillel, was speaker of the Knesset, minister

Amir Peretz, current Knesset member and former Israeli Minister of Defense, Labor Party chairman, and chairman of the Histadrut, ethnicity/country of origin: Morocco

Silvan Shalom, former Israeli minister of Foreign Affairs, minister of Treasury and Deputy Prime Minister, Tunisian Jew

Meir Sheetrit, current Israeli minister of Internal Affairs and former Deputy Prime Minister, minister of Treasury and of Education

Moshe Levi, Israeli general, chief of the Idf General Staff

Shlomo Ben Ami, Israeli historian, diplomat and diplomat, was minister of police

Gabi Ashkenazi, Israeli general, chief of the IDF General Staff

Dan Halutz, Israeli general, chief of the IDF General Staff

Moshe Shahal, minister and lawyer

Moshe Nissim, was Israeli finance and justice minister

Eli Cohen, Israeli spy in Syria

J. F. R. Jacob, Indian general, distinguished himself in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Shimon Sheetrit, Israeli lawman and politician, was justice minister, professor of law

Ran Cohen, politician from the left liberal party Meretz, former MK

Nissim Dahan, rabbi and politician from Shass party, was minister of health

Shalom Simhon, Israeli politician, from Labor party, minister of agriculture

Itzhak Peretz, Israeli rabbi and politician, among the founders of Shas founders, was a government minister

Benny Mazouz from a family from Djerba, Tunisia

Religious figures

Baba Sali, venerated rabbi born in Morocco

Ovadia Yosef, former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel and spiritual leader of Shas

Mordechai Eliyahu, former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel

Amnon Yitzhak, Orthodox rabbi of Yemenite origin

Shlomo Moussaieff (rabbi), Co-founder of Bukharian Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem

Sports and game players

Yossi Benayoun, Israeli football player at Chelsea FC

Doron Jamchi, Israeli basketball player

Oded Kattash, Israeli basketball player

Robert Mizrachi, poker player, Iraqi Jew

Michael Mizrachi, poker player, Iraqi Jew

Eli Ohana, Israeli football player

Haim Revivo, Israeli football player

Shahar Zubari, Israeli Olympic medalist in Windsurfing.

Writers and academics

Michel Abitbol, noted historian and professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Erez Bitton, Israeli Hebrew poet

Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, French physicist, Nobel Prize winner (from an Algerian Jewish family)

Jacques Derrida, French philosopher (of Algerian Jewish descent)

Sami Michael, Israeli Hebrew writer (born in Iraq)

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, psychotherapist

Samir Naqqash, Israeli Jewish writer in Arab language (born in Iraq)

Yehouda Shenhav, Israeli sociologist (born in an Iraqi Jewish family, Shahrabani)

Saba Soomekh, professor/writer

A.B. Yehoshua, Israeli Hebrew writer, professor (from a Sefardic family originating from Morocco)

Avi Shlaim, Oxford University scholar; author specialising on the Israel-Palestine conflict and Zionism. Shlaim is originally from Iraq.

Ella Shohat, Israeli-American sociologist and author

Albert Memmi, French-Tunisian writer

Eli Amir, Israeli Hebrew writer

Smadar Lavie, Israeli anthropologist

Hélène Cixous, French writer

Jacques Attali, French thinker and author

Shimon Adaf, Israeli Hebrew poet and writer

Ronit Matalon, Israeli Hebrew writer, from a Sephardic Egyptian family

Orly Castel Bloom, Israeli Hebrew writer (from an Egyptian Jewish family)

Baruj Benacerraf, American-Venezuelan medical scientist, Nobel Prize, from a sephardic family with Moroccan roots

Haim Sabato, Israeli rabbi and Hebrew writer

Rachel Shabi, British/Israeli journalist and author of "Not the Enemy, Israel's Jews from Arab lands" about Mizrahi Jews in Israel

Sasson Somekh, Israeli Arabologist

Nissim Ezekiel, Indian poet and art critic

Andre Chouraqui, French-Israeli thinker and writer

See also

List of notable Mizrahi Jews and Sephardi Jews in Israel

References

Bibliography

External links

Organizations

World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries

Sephardic Pizmonim Project Music of Mizrahi Jews.

JIMENA Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa

Multiculturalism Project - Middle Eastern and North African Jews

Hakeshet Hademocratit Hamizrachit - An organization of Mizrahi Jews in Israel

Harif: Association of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa (British-based)

Articles

Mizrahi Wanderings - Nancy Hawker on Samir Naqqash, one of Israel’s foremost Arab-language Mizrahi novelists

The Middle East's Forgotten Refugees A chronicle of Mizrahi refugees by Semha Alwaya

The Forgotten Refugees

Moshe Levy The story of an Iraqi Jew in the Israeli Navy and his survival on the war-ship Eilat

My Life in Iraq Yeheskel Kojaman describes his life as a Mizrahi Jew in Iraq in the 50s and 60s

Audio interview with Ammiel Alcalay discussing Mizrahi literature

Excerpt from ''The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times'' by Norman Stillman

Etan Bloom, ''The Reproduction of the Model ‘Oriental’ in the Israeli Social Space; the 50s and the speedy immigration.'' Tel-Aviv Univ. M.A in the Unit for Culture Research, 2003. (Hebrew, with summary in English.)

Saul Silas Fathi Full Circle: Escape From Baghdad and the Return by Saul Silas Fathi, A prominent Iraqi Jewish family's escape from persecution.

Tablet Magazine">Road From Damascus, Tablet Magazine

Communities

Bukharian Jews Bukharian Jewish community (English and Russian)

PersianRabbi.com Persian Jewish community

Kurdish Jewry (Hebrew)

The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center Disseminating the 3000 year old heritage of Babylonian Jewry (English and Hebrew)

Iraqi Jews Iraqi American Jewish Community in New York. Perpetuating the history, heritage, culture and traditions of Babylonian Jewry.

Tradition of the Iraqi Jews (mostly Hebrew, with links to recordings)

Sha'ar Binyamin Damascus Jewry (Hebrew and Spanish)

Jews of Lebanon

Historical Society of Jews from Egypt

Harissa.com Tunisian Jewish site (French)

Zlabia.com Algerian Jewish site (French)

Dafina.net Moroccan Jewish site (French)

The Nash Didan Community Persian Azerbaijany, Aramaic speaking community (Hebrew, some English and Aramaic)

Category:Jewish ethnic groups Category:Ethnic groups in Israel Category:Semitic peoples

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Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
Name	Menachem Beginמנחם בגין
Order	6th
Office	Prime Minister of Israel
Term start	21 June 1977
Term end	10 October 1983
Predecessor	Yitzhak Rabin
Successor	Yitzhak Shamir
Birth date	August 16, 1913
Birth place	Brest, Russian Empire
Death date	March 09, 1992
Death place	Tel Aviv, Israel
Party	Likud
Spouse	Aliza Arnold (1919–82)
Children	Benny BeginHasia BeginLeah Begin
Religion	Judaism
Signature	Menachem Begin signature.svg }}

(, , , 16 August 1913 – 9 March, 1992) was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944, against the British mandatory government, which was opposed by the Jewish Agency. As head of the Irgun, he targeted the British in Palestine, and had a deep-rooted hatred of Britain, which some claim would resurface decades later with his aiding and supply of illegal weapons to Argentina during the Falklands war.

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. He remained in opposition in the eight consecutive elections (except for a national unity government around the Six-Day War), but became more acceptable to the political center. His 1977 electoral victory and premiership ended three decades of Labour Party political dominance. He probably served as Opposition Leader longer than anyone in the history of modern democratic politics.

Begin’s most significant achievement as prime minister was the signing of a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, for which he and Anwar Sadat shared the Nobel Prize for Peace. In the wake of the Camp David Accords, the Israel Defense Forces withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, which was captured from Egypt in the Six-Day War. Later, Begin’s government promoted the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 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. As Israeli military involvement in Lebanon deepened, and the Sabra and Shatila massacre, carried out by Christian Phalangist militia allies of the Israelis shocked world public opinion, Begin grew increasingly isolated. As IDF forces remained mired in Lebanon and the economy suffered from hyperinflation, the public pressure on Begin mounted. Depressed by the death of his wife Aliza in November 1982, he gradually withdrew from public life, until his resignation in October 1983.

Early life

Begin was born to Zeev Dov and Hassia Biegun in Brest-Litovsk, (Brest), a town then part of the Russian Empire which was known for its Talmudic scholars. He was the youngest of three children. On his mother's side he was descended from distinguished rabbis. His father, a timber merchant, was a community leader, a passionate Zionist, and an admirer of Theodor Herzl. The midwife who attended his birth was the grandmother of Ariel Sharon.

After a year of a traditional cheder education Begin started studying at a "Tachkemoni" school, associated with the religious Zionist movement. At 12, he joined the Zionist Socialist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair, but soon switched to Betar. At 14, he was sent to a Polish government school, where he received a solid grounding in classical literature, and gained a lifelong love of classical works, which he was able to read in Latin.

Begin began studying 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. He graduated in 1935, but never practiced law. In these same years he became a key disciple of Vladimir "Ze'ev" Jabotinsky, the founder of the militant, nationalist Revisionist Zionism movement and its Betar youth wing. His rise within Betar was rapid: in the same year he graduated, at age 22, he shared the dais with his mentor during Betar's World Congress in Krakow. In 1937 he was the active head of Betar in Czechoslovakia and became head of the largest branch, that of Poland. Returning to Warsaw from an unsuccessful attempt to smuggle almost 1500 Jews into Romania at the end of August 1939, he left three days after the German attack and 1939 invasion began, first to the south-west and then to Vilna (Wilno).

Exile to the Soviet Camp

In September 1939, after Nazi Germany invaded Poland, Begin escaped to Wilno, then located in eastern Poland. The town was shortly to be occupied by the Soviet Union, but from 28 October 1939, it was the capital of the Republic of Lithuania. Wilno was a predominately Polish and Jewish town; an estimated 40 percent of the population was Jewish, with the YIVO institute was located there. On 15 June 1940 the Soviet Union invaded Lithuania, ushering in mass persecution of Poles and Jews. An estimated 120,000 people were arrested by the NKVD and deported to Siberia. Thousands were executed with or without trial. thumb|200px|NKVD mug shot of Menachem Begin, 1940 On 20 September 1940 Begin was arrested by the NKVD and detained in the Lukiškės Prison. He was accused of being an "''agent of British imperialism''" and sentenced to eight years in the Soviet gulag camps. On 1 June 1941 he was sent to the Pechora labor camps in the northern part of European Russia, where he stayed until May 1942. Much later in life, Begin would record and reflect upon his experiences in the interrogations and life in the camp in his memoir "White Nights".

In June 1941, just after Germany attacked the Soviet Union, and following his release under the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement, Begin joined the Polish Army of Anders. He was later sent with the army to Palestine via the Persian Corridor. Upon arrival in August 1942, he received a proposal to take over a position in the Irgun, as Betar's Commissioner. Begin subsequently deserted Anders Army to fight the British and Palestinians in Palestine. He then joined the Jewish national movement in the British Mandate of Palestine.

During the Holocaust, Begin's father was among the 5,000 Brest Jews rounded up by the Nazis at the end of June 1941. Instead of being sent to a forced labor camp, they were shot or drowned in the river. His mother and older brother Herzl also died in the Holocaust.

Begin was married to Aliza Arnold. They had three children: Binyamin, Leah and Hassia.

Jewish underground

Begin quickly made a name for himself, both as a fierce critic of dominant Zionist leadership for being too cooperative with British ‘colonialism’, and as a proponent of guerrilla tactics against the British, which he saw as a necessary means to achieve independence. In 1942 he joined the Irgun (''Etzel''), an underground Zionist group which had split from the main Jewish military organization, the Haganah, in 1931. In 1944 Begin assumed the organization's leadership, determined to force the British government to remove its troops entirely from Palestine. Giving as reasons that the British had reneged on the promises given in the Balfour Declaration and that the White Paper of 1939 restricting Jewish immigration was an escalation of their pro-Arab policy, he decided to break with the Haganah. Soon after he assumed command, a formal 'Declaration of Revolt' was publicized, and armed attacks against British forces were initiated.

Begin issued a call to arms and from 1944–48 the Irgun launched an all-out armed rebellion, perpetrating many attacks against British installations and posts. Begin financed these operations by extorting money from Zionist businessmen, and running bogus robbery scams in the local diamond industry, which enabled the victims to get back their losses from insurance companies.

For several months in 1945–46, the Irgun’s activities were coordinated within the framework of the Hebrew Resistance Movement. Begin was responsible for the bombing of the British administrative and military headquarters at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, in 1946. The attack was conducted as part of a joint response to the British Operation Agatha, during which many Jews were arrested, weapons were seized and the Jewish Agency, from which many documents were removed, was raided. Irgun later claimed that warnings to evacuate had been sent but were ignored, though this has always been denied by the British authorities, and 91 people, British, Arab and Jewish, were killed. According to a documentary by 3BM Television, this made it known for decades as the deadliest terrorist attack of the 20th century. Begin later defended the attack saying the Irgun provided advanced warning that a bomb had been planted.

The fragile partnership collapsed following the bombing, partly because contrary to instructions, it was carried out during the busiest part of the day at the hotel. Under Begin’s leadership, the Irgun continued to carry out operations such as breaking into Acre Prison, and the kidnapping and hanging of two British sergeants in order to prevent, and then in retaliation to, the execution of several Irgun members by the British. Growing numbers of British soldiers and policemen were deployed to quell the Jewish uprising, yet Begin managed to elude captivity, at times disguised as a rabbi. MI5 placed a 'dead-or-alive' bounty of £10,000 on his head after Irgun threatened 'a campaign of terror against British officials', saying they would kill Sir John Shaw, Britain's Chief Secretary in Palestine.

The Jewish Agency, headed by David Ben-Gurion, opposed the Irgun’s independent agenda, which it saw as a challenge to its authority as the representative body of the Jewish community in Palestine. Ben-Gurion openly denounced the Irgun as the “enemy of the Jewish People”, accusing it of sabotaging the political campaign to create a Jewish state. In 1944, the Haganah actively pursued and handed over Irgun members to the British authorities in what became known as The Hunting Season; Begin’s instruction to his men to refrain from violent resistance prevented this from deteriorating into an armed intra-Jewish conflict. In November 1947, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution recommending a Partition Plan for Palestine and Britain announced its plans to fully withdraw from Palestine by May 1948. Begin, once again remained in opposition to the mainstream Zionist leadership. In the years following the establishment of the State of Israel, the Irgun’s contribution to precipitating British withdrawal became a hotly contested debate as different factions vied for control over the emerging narrative of Israeli independence. Begin resented his being portrayed as a belligerent dissident.

Altalena and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War

As the 1948 Arab–Israeli War broke, Irgun fighters joined forces with the Haganah and Lehi militia in fighting the Arab forces. Notable operations in which they took part were the battles of Jaffa and the Jordanian siege on the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. One such operation was the Deir Yassin Massacre of Arab villagers in April 1948. The day after the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948, Begin broadcast a speech on radio declaring that the Irgun was finally moving out of its underground status. On 1 June Begin signed an agreement with the provisional government headed by David Ben Gurion, where the Irgun agreed to formally disband and to integrate its force with the newly formed Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

However, tensions with the IDF persisted, culminating in the confrontation over the Altalena cargo ship, which secretly delivered weapons to the Irgun in June 1948. The government demanded that all the weapons be handed over to it unconditionally, in accordance with the agreement regarding the integration of the Irgun into the IDF. However Begin refused to comply. Rather than negotiating, Ben-Gurion was determined to exercise the state’s authority over military affairs. A violent confrontation between the IDF and members of the Irgun occurred and Ben Gurion eventually ordered the IDF to take the ship by gunfire, and it burnt off the shore of Tel Aviv. Begin was on board as the ship was being shelled. In a speech later he ordered his men not to retaliate in an attempt to prevent the crisis from spiraling into a civil war. For years later Begin saw the Altalena Affair as a defining moment and viewed the government actions against the Irgun as a great injustice.

Political career

Herut opposition years

In August 1948, Begin and members of the Irgun High Command emerged from the underground and formed the right-wing political party Herut ("Freedom") party. The move countered the weakening attraction for the earlier revisionist party, Hatzohar, founded by his late mentor Vladimir Jabotinsky. Revisionist 'purists' alleged nonetheless that Begin was out to steal Jabotinsky's mantle and ran against him with the old party. The Herut party can be seen as the forerunner of today's Likud.

In November 1948, Begin visited the US on a campaigning trip. During his visit, a letter signed by Albert Einstein, Sidney Hook, Hannah Arendt, and other prominent Americans and several rabbis was published which described Begin's Herut party as "closely akin in its organization, methods, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties" and accused his group (along with the smaller, militant, Stern Gang) of having "inaugurated a reign of terror in the Palestine Jewish community".

In the first elections in 1949, Herut, with 11.5 percent of the vote, won 14 seats, while Hatzohar failed to break the threshold and disbanded shortly thereafter. This provided Begin with legitimacy as the leader of the Revisionist stream of Zionism.

Between 1948 and 1977, under Begin, Herut and the alliances it formed (Gahal in 1965 and Likud in 1973) formed the main opposition to the dominant Mapai and later the Alignment (the forerunners of today's Labour Party) in the Knesset; Herut adopted a radical nationalistic agenda committed to the irredentist idea of Greater Israel. During those years, Begin was systematically delegitimized by the ruling party, and was often personally derided by Ben-Gurion who refused to either speak to or refer to him by name. Ben-Gurion famously coined the phrase 'without Herut and Maki' (Maki was the communist party), referring to his refusal to consider them for coalition, effectively pushing both parties and their voters beyond the margins of political consensus.

The personal animosity between Ben-Gurion and Begin, going back to the hostilities over the Altalena Affair, underpinned the political dichotomy between Mapai and Herut. Begin was a keen critic of Mapai, accusing it of coercive Bolshevism and deep-rooted institutional corruption. Drawing on his training as a lawyer in Poland, he preferred wearing a formal suit and tie and evincing the dry demeanor of a legislator to the socialist informality of Mapai, as a means of accentuating their differences.

One of the fiercest confrontations between Begin and Ben-Gurion revolved around the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany, signed in 1952. Begin vehemently opposed the agreement, claiming that it was tantamount to a pardon of Nazi crimes against the Jewish people. While the agreement was debated in the Knesset in January 1952, he led a passionate demonstration in Jerusalem in which he attacked the government, calling for a violent overthrow of the elected government. Incited by his speech, the crowd marched towards the Knesset (then at the Frumin Building on King George Street), throwing stones and injuring dozens of policemen and several Knesset members. Many held Begin personally responsible for the violence, and he was consequently barred from the Knesset for several months. His behavior was strongly condemned in mainstream public discourse, reinforcing his image as a provocateur. The vehemence of Revisionist opposition was deep; in March 1952, during the ongoing reparations negotiations, a parcel bomb addressed to Konrad Adenauer, the sitting West German Chancellor, was intercepted at a German post office. While being defused, the bomb exploded, killing one and injuring two others. Five Israelis, all former members of Irgun, were later arrested in Paris for their involvement in the plot. Chancellor Adenauer decided to keep secret the involvement of Israeli opposition party members in the plot, thus avoiding Israeli embarrassment and a likely backlash. The five Irgun conspirators were later extradited from both France and Germany, without charge, and sent back to Israel. Forty years after the assassination attempt, Begin was implicated as the organizer of the assassination attempt in a memoir written by one of the conspirators, Elieser Sudit.

Begin's impassioned rhetoric, laden with pathos and evocations of the Holocaust, appealed to many, but was deemed inflammatory and demagoguery by others.

Gahal and unity government

In the following years, Begin failed to gain electoral momentum, and Herut remained far behind Labor with a total of 17 seats until 1961. In 1965, Herut and the Liberal Party united to form the Gahal party under Begin’s leadership, but failed again to win more seats in the election that year. In 1966, during Herut's party convention, he was challenged by the young Ehud Olmert, who called for his resignation. 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 Begin serving in the cabinet for the first time, as a Minister without Portfolio. Rafi also joined the unity government at that time, with Moshe Dayan becoming Defense Minister. Gahal's arrangement lasted until August 1970, when Begin and Gahal quit the government, then led by Golda Meir due to disagreements over the Rogers Plan and its "in place" cease-fire with Egypt along the Suez Canal, Other sources, including William B. Quandt, note that the Labor party, by formally accepting UN 242 in mid-1970, had accepted "peace for withdrawal" on all fronts, and because of this Begin had left the unity government. On 5 August, Begin explained before the Knesset why he was resigning from the cabinet. He said, "As far as we are concerned, what do the words 'withdrawal from territories administered since 1967 by Israel' mean other than Judea and Samaria. Not all the territories; but by all opinion, most of them."

Likud chairmanship

In 1973, 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. They came through with a tenuous alliance called the Likud ("Consolidation"). In the elections held later that year, two months after the Yom Kippur War, the Likud won a considerable share of the votes, though with 39 seats still remained in opposition.

Yet the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War saw ensuing public disenchantment with the Alignment. Voices of criticism about the government's misconduct of the war gave rise to growing public resentment. Personifying the antithesis to the Alignment's socialist ethos, Begin appealed to many Mizrahi Israelis, mostly first and second generation Jewish immigrants from Arab countries, who felt they were continuously being treated by the establishment as second-class citizens. His open embrace of Judaism stood in stark contrast to the Alignment's secularism, which alienated Mizrahi voters and drew many of them to support Begin, becoming his burgeoning political base. In the years 1974–77 Yitzhak Rabin's government suffered from instability due to infighting within the labor party (Rabin and Shimon Peres) and the shift to the right by the National Religious Party, as well as numerous corruption scandals. All these weakened the labor camp and finally allowed Begin to capture the center stage of Israeli politics.

Prime Minister of Israel

1977 electoral victory

On 17 May 1977 the Likud, headed by Begin, won the Knesset elections by a landslide, becoming the biggest party in the Knesset. Popularly known as the ''Mahapakh'' ("upheaval"), the election results had seismic ramifications as for the first time in Israeli history a party other than the Alignment/Mapai was in a position to form a government, effectively ending the left's hitherto unrivalled domination over Israeli politics. Likud's electoral victory signified a fundamental restructuring of Israeli society in which the founding socialist Ashkenazi elite was being replaced by a coalition representing marginalized Mizrahi and Jewish-religious communities, promoting a socially conservative and economically liberal agenda.

The Likud campaign leading up to the election centered on Begin's personality. Demonized by the Alignment as totalitarian and extremist, his self-portrayal as a humble and pious leader struck a chord with many who felt abandoned by the ruling party's ideology. In the predominantly Jewish Mizrahi working class urban neighborhoods and peripheral towns, the Likud won overwhelming majorities, while disillusionment with the Alignment's corruption prompted many middle and upper class voters to support the newly founded centrist Democratic Movement for Change ("Dash") headed by Yigael Yadin. Dash won 15 seats out of 120, largely at the expense of the Alignment, which was led by Shimon Peres and had shrunk from 51 to 32 seats. Well aware of his momentous achievement and employing his trademark sense for drama, when speaking that night in the Likud headquarters Begin quoted from the Gettysburg Address and the Torah, referring to his victory as a 'turning point in the history of the Jewish people'.

With 43 seats, the Likud still required the support of other parties in order to reach a parliamentary majority that would enable it to form a government under Israel's proportionate representation parliamentary system. Though able to form a narrow coalition with smaller Jewish religious and ultra-orthodox parties, Begin also sought support from centrist elements in the Knesset to provide his government with greater public legitimacy. He 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. Begin was sworn in as Prime Minister of Israel on 20 June 1977. Dash eventually joined his government several months later, thus providing it with the broad support of almost two thirds of the Knesset.

Camp David accords

:''main articles: Camp David Accords (1978) and Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty

In 1978 Begin, aided by Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan and Defense Minister Ezer Weizman, negotiated the Camp David Accords, and in 1979 signed the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty with Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat. Under the terms of the treaty, brokered by US President, Jimmy Carter, Israel was to hand over the Sinai Peninsula in its entirety to Egypt. The peace treaty with Egypt was a watershed moment in Middle Eastern history, as it was the first time an Arab state recognized Israel’s legitimacy whereas Israel effectively accepted the land for peace principle as blueprint for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. Given Egypt’s prominent position within the Arab World, especially as Israel’s biggest and most powerful enemy, the treaty had far reaching strategic and geopolitical implications.

Almost overnight, Begin’s public image of an irresponsible nationalist radical was transformed into that of a statesman of historic proportions. This image was reinforced by international recognition which culminated with him being awarded, together with Sadat, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978.

Yet while establishing Begin as a leader with broad public appeal, the peace treaty with Egypt was met with fierce criticism within his own Likud party. His devout followers found it difficult to reconcile Begin’s history as a keen promoter of the Greater Israel agenda with his willingness to relinquish occupied territory. Agreeing to the removal of Israeli settlements from the Sinai was perceived by many as a clear departure from Likud’s Revisionist ideology. Several prominent Likud members, most notably Yitzhak Shamir, objected to the treaty and abstained when it was ratified with an overwhelming majority in the Knesset, achieved only thanks to support from the opposition. A small group of hardliners within Likud, associated with Gush Emunim Jewish settlement movement, eventually decided to split and form the Tehiya party in 1979. They led the ''Movement for Stopping the Withdrawal from Sinai'', violently clashing with IDF soldiers during the forceful eviction of Yamit settlement in April 1982. Despite the traumatic scenes from Yamit, political support for the treaty did not diminish and the Sinai was handed over to Egypt in 1982.

Begin was far less resolute in implementing the section of the Camp David Accord, which defined a framework for establishing autonomous Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He 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. 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. When the settlement of Elon Moreh was established on the outskirts of Nablus in 1979, following years of campaigning by Gush Emunim, Begin declared that there are "many more Elon Morehs to come". Indeed during his term as Prime Minister dozens of new settlements were built, and Jewish population in the West Bank and Gaza more than quadrupled.

Bombing Iraqi nuclear reactor

Begin took Saddam Hussein's anti-Zionist threats very seriously and therefore took aim at Iraq. Israel attempted to negotiate with France so as not to provide Iraq with the nuclear reactor named Osirak or Tammuz 1, but to no avail. On 7 June 1981, Begin ordered the bombing and destruction of Osirak by the Israeli Air Force in a successful long-range operation called ''Operation Opera''. Soon after, Begin enunciated what came to be known as the Begin doctrine: "On no account shall we permit an enemy to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against the people of Israel." Many foreign governments, including the United States, condemned the operation, and the United Nations Security Council passed a unanimous resolution 487 condemning it. The Israeli left-wing opposition criticized it also at the time, but mainly for its timing relative to elections only three weeks later.

Lebanon invasion

On 6 June 1982, 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. Operation ''Peace for Galilee’s'' stated objective was to force the PLO out of rocket range of Israel's northern border. 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. Nevertheless, fighting soon escalated into war with Palestinian and Lebanese militias, as well as the Syrian military, and the IDF progressed as far as Beirut, well beyond the 40 km limit initially authorized by the government. Israeli forces were successful in driving the PLO out of Lebanon and forcing its leadership to relocate to Tunisia, but the war ultimately failed in achieving security to Israel’s northern border, as well as imposing stability in Lebanon. Israeli entanglement in Lebanon intensified throughout Begin’s term, leading to a partial unilateral withdrawal in 1985, and finally ending in 2000.

Like Begin, the Israeli public was expecting quick and decisive victory. Yet as this failed to arrive, disillusionment with the war, and concomitantly with his government, was growing. Begin continuously referred to the invasion as an inevitable act of survival, often comparing Yasser Arafat to Hitler, but its image as a war of necessity was gradually eroding. Within a matter of weeks into the war it emerged that for the first time in Israeli history there was no consensus over the IDF’s activity. Public criticism reached its peak following the Sabra and Shatila Massacre in September 1982, when hundreds of thousands gathered to protest in Tel Aviv in what was one of the biggest public demonstrations in Israeli history. The Kahan Commission, appointed to investigate the events, found the government indirectly responsible for the massacre, accusing Defense Minister Ariel Sharon of gross negligence. The commission’s report, published in February 1983, severely damaged Begin’s government, forcing Sharon to resign. As the Israeli quagmire in Lebanon seemed to grow deeper, public pressure on Begin to resign increased.

Begin’s disoriented appearance on national television while visiting the Beaufort battle site raised concerns that he was being misinformed about the war’s progress. Asking Sharon whether PLO fighters had ‘machine guns’, Begin seemed out of touch with the nature and scale of the military campaign he had authorized. Almost a decade later, Haaretz reporter Uzi Benziman published a series of articles accusing Sharon of intentionally deceiving Begin about the operation’s initial objectives, and continuously misleading him as the war progressed. Sharon sued both the newspaper and Benziman for libel in 1991. The trial lasted 11 years, with one of the highlights being the deposition of Begin's son, Benny, in favor of the defendants. Sharon lost the case.

Retirement from public life

Begin himself retired from politics in August 1983 and handed over the reins of the office of Prime Minister to his old friend-in-arms Yitzhak Shamir, who had been the leader of the Lehi resistance to the British. Begin had become deeply disappointed by the war in Lebanon because he had hoped to establish peace with Bashir Gemayel, who was assassinated. Instead, there were mounting Israeli casualties. The death of his wife Aliza in Israel while he was away on an official visit to Washington DC, added to his own mounting depression. After his wife's death, Begin would rarely leave his apartment, and then usually to visit her grave-site to say the traditional Kaddish prayer for the departed. His seclusion was watched over by his children and his lifetime personal secretary Yechiel Kadishai, who monitored all official requests for meetings.

Death

Begin died in Tel Aviv in 1992, followed by a simple ceremony and burial on the Mount of Olives. He asked to be buried there instead of Mount Herzl, where most Israeli leaders are laid to rest, because he wanted to be buried beside Meir Feinstein of Irgun and Moshe Barazani of Lehi, who committed suicide in jail while awaiting execution by the British.

In 2005, he was voted the 4th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website ''Ynet'' to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.

Begin in fiction and on film

A slightly fictionalized Menachem Begin appeared in the first edition of ''Land of Black Gold'', but was removed from subsequent editions. He appears in the film ''Waltz with Bashir'' and in the novel ''The Fifth Horseman'', by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre.

Begin was played by David Opatoshu in the 1977 TV film ''Raid on Entebbe'' and by Barry Morse in the 1983 miniseries ''Sadat''.

Published work

''The Revolt'' (ISBN 0-8402-1370-0)

''White Nights: The story of a prisoner in Russia'' (ISBN 0-06-010289-6)

Further reading

Yehuda Avner, ''The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership'', The Toby Press, 2010. ISBN 9781592642786

Ilan Peleg, ''Begin’s foreign policy, 1977–1983 : Israel’s move to the right'', Greenwood Press, 1987

Eric Silver, ''Begin: The Haunted Prophet'', Random House, 1984

Sasson Sofer, ''Begin: an anatomy of leadership'', Basil Blackwell, 1988

Avi Shilon, ''Begin , 1913–1992'', 2007

Harry Hurwitz, Yisrael Medad, "Peace in the Making", Gefen Publishing House, 2010

See also

List of Jewish Nobel laureates

References

External links

Official sites

The Menachem Begin Heritage Center

PM Sharon's Address at the Opening Ceremony for the Begin Heritage Centre Building 16 June 2004

Menachem Begin – The Sixth Prime Minister Official Site of the Prime Minister's Office Menachem Begin's biography Knesset website

Miscellaneous links

The Camp David Accords

The Bombing of the King David Hotel

Photo of Begin in Ultra-Orthodox garb while evading the British

Irgun Web Page

1948 Letter of some Eminent Jews to New York Times

Menachem Begin Obituary Editorial

The Begin Biography, Nobel Foundation

Bodies of murdered Clifford Martin and Marvyn Paice

Menachem Begin Noble Peace Prize Speech – JInsider History Moment

Menachem Begin Memorial Dedication in Brest, Belarus

Category:1913 births Category:1992 deaths Category:People from Brest, Belarus Category:Belarusian Jews Category:Ashkenazi Jews Category:Cold War leaders Category:Members of the Knesset Category:Israeli Jews Category:Israeli Nobel laureates Category:Israeli party leaders Category:Israeli people of Belarusian origin Category:Jewish politicians Category:Jews in Ottoman and British Palestine Category:Nobel Peace Prize laureates Category:Polish Jews Category:Polish Nobel laureates Category:Prime Ministers of Israel Category:Rebels Category:Revolutionaries Category:Rhetoricians Category:University of Warsaw alumni Category:Prisoners and detainees of the Soviet Union Category:Memoirs of imprisonment Category:Irgun members Category:Likud politicians Category:Herut politicians Category:Burials at the Mount of Olives (Jewish)

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