Begin, Menachem (mĕnä`khĕm bā`gĭn), 1913–92, Zionist leader and Israeli prime minister (1977–83), b. Russia. He became (1938) leader of a Zionist youth movement in Poland, where he also earned a law degree. Begin went to Palestine in 1942; there, he headed the Irgun, a militant organization that fought against the British Mandate authorities. After 1949 he sat in the Knesset, where he led the opposition to the Labor party. In May, 1977, Begin's right-wing Likud party defeated Labor for the first time, and Begin became prime minister. He shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize with Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat Sadat, Anwar al- (änwär` äl-sädät`), 1918–81, Egyptian political leader and president (1970–81).
..... Click the link for more information. as a result of the Camp David accords Camp David accords, popular name for the historic peace accords forged in 1978 between Israel and Egypt at the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David, Md. The official agreement was signed on Mar. 26, 1979, in Washington, D.C.
..... Click the link for more information. . In 1982, Begin authorized a massive invasion of Lebanon Lebanon (lĕb`ənən, –nŏn'), officially Republic of Lebanon, republic (2005 est. pop.
..... Click the link for more information. in order to destroy military bases of the Palestine Liberation Organization Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), coordinating council for Palestinian organizations, founded (1964) by Egypt and the Arab League and initially controlled by Egypt.
..... Click the link for more information. (see Arab-Israeli Wars Arab-Israeli Wars, conflicts in 1948–49, 1956, 1967, 1973–74, and 1982 between Israel and the Arab states. Tensions between Israel and the Arabs have been complicated and heightened by the political, strategic, and economic interests in the area of the
..... Click the link for more information. ). The war caused intense domestic and international pressure and failed to achieve Israel's principal aims. Begin resigned from office in 1983.

Bibliography

See A. Perlmutter, The Life and Times of Menachem Begin (1987).

Begin, Menachem (Wolfovitch)

Menachem Begin, 1987.

(credit: Ralph Crane/Camera Press from Globe Photos)

(b. Aug. 16, 1913, Brest-Litovsk, Russia—d. March 9, 1992, Tel Aviv, Israel) Prime minister of Israel (1977–83). He earned a law degree from the University of Warsaw, Pol. During World War II (1939–45) the Soviet authorities sent him to Siberia, but he was soon released to join the Polish army in exile. He escaped to Palestine, where he became leader in 1943 of the Irgun Zvai Leumi (a right-wing underground movement in favour of a Jewish state). From 1948 to 1977 he led the opposition in the Israeli Knesset, except for three years when he sat in the Government of National Unity (1967–70). As head of the Likud party coalition, he became prime minister in 1977. He shared the 1978 Nobel Prize for Peace with Anwar el-Sadat for negotiations that resulted in the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty. His 1982 invasion of Lebanon turned world opinion against Israel, and he resigned in 1983. See also Arab-Israeli wars; Vladimir Jabotinsky.