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Menachem Begin

🇮🇱 Menachem Begin (1913–1992)

⬅️ People, Groups & Places (MOC) · Related: Anwar Sadat · Peace Offers · Ze'ev Jabotinsky

Why he matters

The first right-wing (Likud) PM — a former Irgun commander the left called a warmonger — who then made peace with Egypt and won the Nobel Prize. Proof that peace depends on the partner, not on Israel’s ideology.

Key Facts

  • Led the Irgun in the pre-state struggle (a Revisionist Zionist).
  • PM 1977–1983; ended three decades of Labor dominance.
  • 1978 Camp David Accords / 1979 peace treaty with Anwar Sadat — returned the entire Sinai; Nobel Peace Prize (1978). → 1978 Camp David Accords · 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty
  • 1981: ordered the strike on Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor (the “Begin Doctrine” against hostile nuclear programs).

Debate Relevance

  • “The Israeli right won’t make peace” → the most hawkish PM of his era gave back the Sinai for it. → Peace Offers

🔗 See Also