Begin Center Bulletin

Menachem Begin Heritage Center Bulletin, Vol. 5, No. 22 | 19 March 2009


TOTAL NUMBER OF VISITORS SINCE OCTOBER 2004: 477,327


APPROACHING 30 YEARS SINCE THE SIGNING OF THE PEACE TREATY

Four events will take place over the next ten days to commemorate the historic occasion of the signing of the Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt and the courage of two leaders, Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Anwar Sadat, to change the political dynamic in the Middle East.

First, the Truman Institute in cooperation with Hebrew University, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Israel's Government, are hosting a conference on 25 March. The event will be opened with remarks from the US Ambassador to Israel, Mr. James Cunningham. The first panel will be chaired by Prof. Menachem Milson of Hebrew University and the panel participants will be Dan Pattir, who was on the negotiating team and was a media advisor to Begin, and Dr. Meir Rosenne, who was a legal advisor to Israel's foreign ministry and was subsequently Ambassador to the US and France. The second panel will be chaired by Moshe Arad, former Ambassador to the US, and the panel participants will be Egypt's Ambassador to Israel, Mr. Yasser Reda, and Israel's Ambassador to Egypt, Mr. Shalom Cohen. The third panel will be chaired by Prof. Steven Kaplan and panel participants will be Prof. Eli Podeh and Prof. Ya'acov Bar-Siman-Tov, all of whom are of the Hebrew University. This event is open to the public, is in ENGLISH and reservations can be made by phone at 02-588-2329 or via email at trumanevents@huji.ac.il

On March 26, the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University will hold a conference on "Israel's Peace Treaty with Egypt: Thirty Years Later." Among the guest speakers: Justice Elyakim Rubinstein; Mr. Oded Granot; former US Ambassador to Israel Dr. Dan Kurtzer; and Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Gilad. The conference (in HEBREW) will be held from 9:00-16:30. Please refer to their internet site for more information: www.inss.org.il

The Begin Center is joining together with Israel's government for two special occasions.

The Begin Center will join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for an event for the Diplomatic Corps and other people who were at the signing of the Peace Treaty in 1979. In addition to the ceremony, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested to set up the "Making Peace" exhibition that had been at the Begin Center. This event is by invitation only and is closed to the public.

The Knesset confirmed the date March 30 for their commemoration—a special session where the Prime Minister, the leader of the Opposition and the leaders of the parties will all speak. After the session, Members of Knesset and other VIPs will attend a reception in the hall where the Making Peace Exhibition will be situated. The Speaker of the Knesset will speak. It is also by invitation and closed to the public.


EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS FOR SCHOOLS

In addition to commemorative events, the Begin Center is committed to teaching future generations about the life, words and accomplishments of Menachem Begin. After some discussions with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry will send a special memo to all the schools in Israel inviting them to the Menachem Begin Heritage Center's website to download and view the text of some of the historic documents in Hebrew for use by teachers across Israel. On the website are: Menachem Begin's speech at the signing of the Peace Treaty, his speech at the Nobel Prize ceremony, his speech before the Knesset when Sadat visited, the text of the Treaty itself, Anwar Sadat's speech at the Knesset and Sadat's speech at the signing of the Peace Treaty.

We have also added the movie "Making Peace" which was part of the exhibition at the Center. While it is not entirely in English, the footage is extremely moving and can be enjoyed by everyone. Please visit our site at http://www.begincenter.org.il/.


UNUSUAL PRESS CONFERENCE

On Sunday, an unusual press conference was held at the Begin Center regarding a kidnapping and murder that took place in 1947. On May 6 1947, Alexander Rubovitz of the Lehi was snatched off a Jerusalem street by one Roy Farran, a member of the British security forces, seconded to the Palestine Police Force. Farran was eventually brought before a court martial but was acquitted. Farran went on to be one of the most decorated British servicemen of the Second World War, recipient of the DSO and three Military Crosses and eventually moved to Calgary, Canada where he became Solicitor-General and died in 2006.

The press conference, held by Steve Rambam of Pallorium detective agency, brought to light evidence of foul play, missing memos and personal testimony by Yael Ben Dov who was Rubovitz's commander in the Lehi and was present at the press conference. The goal of the investigation is to try to find the remains of Rubovitz, to definitively show that certain secret Q squads in the British Police during the Mandate Period used excessive force and committed crimes and to get some sort of closure for the Rubowitz family for whom Alexander is still listed as Missing In Action.


NEW BOOK ECHOES BEGIN'S STAND AGAINST CIVIL WAR

Yedidiyah Segal, columnist for the Makor Rishon newspaper has just published a book on the murder in Haifa of his uncle, Yedidya Segal, entitled "Rak Lo Milhemet Ahim" ("Just Not Civil War"). Historians know that Menachem Begin did everything possible to avert even the possibility of civil war during the Altalena tragedy and during the Saison when Haganah members turned Irgun and Lehi members into the British Police Forces. Here again in this story, Menachem Begin's influence is felt. "This was thanks to the general guidance of Begin," Segal said, "and thanks to the forceful position adopted by my grandfather and grandmother who ruled out revenge and did not raise their voices saying 'we will not forget and not forgive.' My grandfather, Yosef Segal, who is the hero of this story in my eyes, was a person who did not take sides and was fond of everyone. He greatly admired [David] Ben-Gurion, the commander in chief of the Haganah, and considered him almost a messiah; he corresponded with him (and this correspondence is published in the book). He and my grandmother prevented a civil war. They convinced my uncle, Benayahu Segal, to relinquish his plan to avenge his brother's blood."


UPCOMING EVENTS

On April 1, 2009, there will be an event commemorating Rabbi Aryeh Levine at 7:00pm at the Begin Center. This event is in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense and the Etzel Veterans Association. This event is in HEBREW. Please call 02-565-2020 for reservations.


CONGRATULATIONS!

It was announced this week that Nahum Heyman, the well-known composer and, additionally, star of the Begin Center's series called "Chapters in the History of Israeli Poetry" that include sing-alongs and multimedia presentations about a poet in the history of Israel, will receive the Israel Prize on Israel's Independence Day in honor of his lifetime of work in the music field.

We wish him all the very best on this great honor.

The next program in the series is on March 24 in which Nahum Heyman will feature the poetry of David Zahavi and Matityahu Shalem. This event will be in HEBREW. Tickets are 40 NIS and reservations can be made at 02-565-2020.


CONDOLENCES

We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of William Davidson of Detroit, Michigan. Mr. Davidson was a businessman, owner of the Detroit Pistons, a community leader and a great philanthropist who gave significant contributions to many foundations all over Israel, including the Menachem Begin Heritage Center. He leaves behind his wife, Karen, his children, Ethan and Marla, three step-daughters and numerous grandchildren.

Letter to Editor

Begin kept the faith

Sir, - In "Netanyahu as prime minister - deja vu?" (March 11) Daniel Pipes analyzed what he alleges were broken promises by previous Likud leaders. He stated that "Menachem Begin was elected... on a nationalist platform that included annexing parts of the West Bank" but "instead removed all troops and civilians from the Sinai Peninsula."

I would have credited Mr. Pipes with the intelligence to differentiate between the West Bank and the Sinai Peninsula.

Prime minister Begin never considered giving up any claim of the Jewish people to the West Bank (Judea and Samaria). His discussions at Camp David dealt with some form of administrative autonomous self-government for the Arab residents of those areas regarding their internal affairs, but not the ceding of sovereignty.

On the other hand, the Jewish people have never had a historical or legal claim to the Sinai desert. In return for a peace treaty with Israel's largest Arab foe in all wars until that time, Begin returned the Sinai to Egypt, giving up valuable strategic depth, some low-quality oil fields at Abu Rodeis, and agricultural settlements on the Mediterranean shore at Yamit.

HILLEL HURWITZ
Ra'anan

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Begin Averted A Civil War Yet A Third Time

Many are aware that in two instances, Menachem, Begin, as Commander of the Irgun Tzavi Leumi, prevented internecine violence in the pre-state Yishuv on two occasions: the 'Saison' period and during the Altalena crisis.

We now know there was a thrid incident.

Yedidiyah Segal, columnist for the Makor Rishon newspaper has just published a book on the murder in Haifa of his uncle, Yedidya Segal, entitled "Rak Lo Milhemet Ahim" ("Just Not Civil War").

As Haaretz reports:

The murderer was never brought to trial but the affair led to a libel case, debates in the Knesset, and numerous investigative reports by journalists....Over the years, many people believed that Yedidya Segal was killed by members of the Haganah Underground, the Jewish pre-independence army, but had no proof. Segal did not find any conclusive evidence, but he did manage to cast a shadow on the Haganah's version of the event.

Following a series of kidnappings between the Hagana and Irgun, the

Haganah leadership decided to kidnap one of the senior Etzel members in Haifa, Moshe Levy. The Etzel retaliated by abducting a top Haganah member, Gedalya Kaminsky-Even (the father of future MK Prof. Uzi Even). Because the decision to kidnap Kaminsky was made quickly, the Etzel had not prepared a hideout to stash him.

After wandering around, they took him for a short while to the hut of a guard at a building site in the Hadar quarter of Haifa. The guard was an Etzel member, 21-year-old Yedidya Segal. Segal had been a student at the city's Reali School where some of his famous classmates included Eliahu Hakim (afterwards executed in Cairo), (ambassador) Uri Lubrani and Aharon Yadlin (later education minister).

Segal had no idea what had happened and who the abducted man was, and begged the kidnappers to leave the site, which they did. However, word had reached the Haganah that Kaminsky was being held in the hut and they sent a special force to the site to capture Segal and bring him in for questioning.

Segal was taken to the Haganah's interrogation facility in the Carmelia neighborhood. There they pressed him to reveal where Kaminsky was being held, but he refused to tell. Meanwhile an exchange of "prisoners" was worked out between the two organizations.

Etzel's Levy was set free, they freed Kaminsky, and only Yedidya Segal did not return home. His body was found close to the village of Tira (the area that is today Tirat Hacarmel)...Segal is convinced that his uncle was tortured by the Haganah but he did not find conclusive evidence that they had murdered him...

...Nevertheless, Segal managed to uncover two clues which he believes cast a dark shadow over the Haganah's version of events...Segal believes that the Haganah did not plan in advance to murder his uncle but rather that he was so badly tortured during the interrogation that he collapsed while fleeing and died in the area where his body was found.

Despite this terrible tragedy,

Former prime minister Menachem Begin wrote in his book, "The Revolt," that it was only the Segal family's strong stand against a civil war that prevented the kind of terrible bloodbath that had taken place during the Second Temple period.

"This was thanks to the general guidance of Begin," Segal said, "and thanks to the forceful position adopted by my grandfather and grandmother who ruled out revenge and did not raise their voices saying 'we will not forget and not forgive.' My grandfather, Yosef Segal, who is the hero of this story in my eyes, was a person who did not take sides and was fond of everyone. He greatly admired [David] Ben-Gurion, the commander in chief of the Haganah, and considered him almost a messiah; he corresponded with him (and this correspondence is published in the book). He and my grandmother prevented a civil war. They convinced my uncle, Benayahu Segal, to relinquish his plan to avenge his brother's blood."

Center Bulletin, Vol. 5, No. 21

Menachem begin Heritage Center Bulletin, Vol. 5, No. 21 | 12 March 2009


TOTAL NUMBER OF VISITORS SINCE OCTOBER 2004: 476,186


INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY AT THE BEGIN CENTER

A very special event was held this past Thursday in honor of International Women's Day in the Reuben Hecht Auditorium. Major-General Ido Nechushtan, the main speaker of the evening, spoke about his mother, Dvorah, who was a combat fighter and squad leader in the Irgun Zvai Leumi. Maj.-Gen. Nechushtan, Air Force Chief and former head of Operational Planning in the IDF High Command, said that he was always proud to relate the story about how his mother took part in the attack on Lod airport, which was at the time British, and helped to destroy 26 airplanes. This was an extremely important mission because those planes were used to spot clandestine immigration ships. Without these eyes in the sky, more ships would be able to get through. He joked that he is the only air force commander in the world whose mother attacked an airport.

Later, when Dvorah was arrested and tried, she gave a statement to the court, which Nechushtan read during his speech. In it she refers to her sentence of 15 years in prison, saying "I will be here in 15 years, but you [the Court and the British] will not."

Rivkah Miriam read selected poems. Gil Shochat, a pianist and composer, played the piano and Gila Bashari sang. The evening was organized by MK Geula Cohen in cooperation with the Uri Tzvi Greenberg House.

30 YEARS SINCE THE SIGNING OF THE PEACE TREATY

March 26th marks 30 years since the signing of the historic Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel. The Begin Center is joining together with Israel's government for two special occasions.

The Begin Center will join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for an event for the Diplomatic Corps and other people who were at the signing of the Peace Treaty in 1979. In addition to the ceremony, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested to set up the "Making Peace" exhibition that had been at the Begin Center. This event is by invitation only and is closed to the public.

The Knesset will hold a special session where the Prime Minister, the leader of the Opposition and the leaders of the parties will all speak. After the session, Members of Knesset and other VIPs will attend a reception in the hall where the Making Peace Exhibition will be situated. The Speaker of the Knesset will speak. The date of this event is not yet confirmed, but it is also by invitation and closed to the public.

MENACHEM BEGIN IN THE MEDIA

This week Menachem Begin was mentioned twice in the press.

Gideon Levy of Ha'aretz paid Begin a backhanded compliment saying that leaders at the beginning of the State built up the country—paving, irrigating and settling. "Even when Menachem Begin was elected, he took power imbued with the joy of creation: building housing projects, making peace with Egypt, and, as futile as his philosophy was, establishing "many Elon Morehs," that settlement in the West Bank."
The LA Times published a review of a memoir in which the author of the memoir states that Begin deserted the Polish Army in Palestine. Yisrael Medad, Director of Information Services, wrote a letter to correct the facts and his letter was published. Begin, in fact, was given a leave of absence after which he went underground to lead the Irgun Zvai Leumi. By the time the British police and army pressured the Polish Army to rescind the leave of absence, World War II was nearly over.

Links to these articles can be found on our blog website

VISITORS

Aharon Barak, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel, will visit the Center this week to give an interview to the archives for the Oral History Project.

Seventy education officers of different units in the IDF came to the Begin Center for the day to participate in leadership workshops and visit the museum.

WE HOPE ALL OUR READERS HAD A VERY HAPPY PURIM!

A Back-handed Compliment

Gideon Levy of Haaretz, seeking to criticise Benjamin Netanyahu, awards a back-handed compliment to Menachem Begin:

During the state's infancy, when all was immeasurably more fragile and dangerous, governments knew how to instill hope and encourage action. They built and paved, settled and irrigated. Even when Menachem Begin was elected, he took power imbued with the joy of creation: building housing projects, making peace with Egypt, and, as futile as his philosophy was, establishing "many Elon Morehs," that settlement in the West Bank.

Defending Begin

In the LA Times:

Checking Begin's military record

Ella Taylor, in her review of Witold Rybczynski's "My Two Polish Grandfathers" ["A Reluctant Memoir, by Design," March 1], has the author stating that "Menachem Begin, 'like a number of Polish Jews,' deserted a Polish battalion" once in Mandate Palestine.

The full truth, as our archival documentation demonstrates, is that Mr. Begin refused to desert and in autumn 1943 negotiations were conducted with the Polish Army Headquarters, with the participation of Aryeh Ben-Eliezer, who traveled from the United States, and Marek Kahan, among others, on the matter of releasing him through an official procedure. He did obtain a leave of absence and went underground in December 1943 as commander of the Irgun. A year later, however, the British police and army pressed the Polish army to rescind that official leave, which they eventually did, the war all but over in Europe.

The anti-Semitism that many Jews suffered while serving in Anders' Army of Free Poles should not be forgotten, either.

Yisrael Medad

Jerusalem

Medad is director, information and educational resources, Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem.

Center Bulletin, Vol. 5, No. 20

Menachem Begin Heritage Center Bulletin | 5 March 2009


TOTAL NUMBER OF VISITORS SINCE OCTOBER 2004: 475,137


THE ROLE OF THE OPPOSITION

With Israel in the midst of forming a government in this post-election period, we wish to draw your attention to the following translated extract from an article about the role of the Opposition by Menachem Begin published in Hebrew in "HaUmmah" (The Nation) in 1963:

As far as I know, an opposition in a free democratic country is founded on three things: 1) generally on the expression of difference; 2) sometimes on the proof of unity; 3) on constant aspiration for change and replacement. I will dedicate words on each one of these three roles, but firstly I will try to clarify the mission of an opposition in the government we generally call a democracy.

I will not hesitate to say that there was great folk wisdom in the founding of this institution. … If there is a force that opposes the government, then this force ensures that it won't be the citizen who is afraid but the government will be apprehensive. This is because when the citizen fears, that is termed slavery and when the government is apprehensive – that is liberty.

Let us appreciate therefore, as fitting, the fact that there is an opposition in our country. Even though there are those who don't agree, as is their wish, to its existence and hope for its strength and well-being, to the point that a day should come that it will cease being an opposition. And when that day should come the opposition itself must desire, as a condition, that there will stand opposite it a strong opposition, recognized by the nation … Perhaps I may be permitted to say that the Herut movement fulfilled in this area a decisive and pioneering role when it announced from the start – in opposition to all the other factions in the Knesset – that insofar as the nation gave it in 1949 only a certain measure of trust, insufficient to compose a government, that it would serve the nation in opposition, and this service will be to its distinction. From then until today this institution called opposition has been a legitimate and recognized institution.

The three roles placed upon the opposition are: first, the obligation of the opposition to express difference…to block to the extent of its ability the path of bad laws. A second way to express difference is a resolution of no confidence…one of the clear roles of every parliament is to turn to public opinion. It is not correct that the nation judges its rulers in one day, namely election day, as Montesquieu once wrote. The nation needs to judge every day, and mainly every day in which parliament is in session. Every day the nation needs to judge both sides: the government proposes, the opposition agrees or the opposite. Civil liberty exists through argument. The nation hears and reads and judges. Its judgment is a process of many days, until the day arrives in which it deposits the ballot and produces its ruling.

The second role of the opposition is, as stated, to prove the unity of the nation. This does not mean forced unity…but unity out of the free will of those being unified. Unity of a free people is a tremendous force. When there is danger, everyone is uniform; they toss away differences, disagreements, and stand shoulder to shoulder against the enemy until he is overcome.

The third role of opposition is, as stated, constant aspiration for change and replacement. An opposition worthy of its name is not sheltered in the shadow of the governing party, but aspires to take its place according to the decision of the nation, and may the time of realizing this aspiration be as long as it may be…it is incumbent on the opposition to continue aspiring for change and replacement and not to sit squinting at the government of today's table. Without this aspiration an opposition is nothing but a sort of a simple division of roles – essentially artificial.

17TH YAHRZEIT OF MENACHEM BEGIN

Braving the rain that had been pouring off and on since the previous Friday, a crowd of people honored Menachem Begin on Sunday at the Mount of Olives at his gravesite including outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister Designate Binyamin Netanyahu and MKs Gideon Sa'ar, Ruby Rivlin, Danny Danon, Dan Meridor, Tzipi Hotevli, Ayub Kara among others, as well as the family and close friends and associates from the Irgun, Herut and Betar.

Later in the evening, the Reuben Hecht Auditorium was filled to capacity with overflow seating in the large seminar room for a beautiful evening of songs from the Underground and Menachem Begin's personal favorite songs and rare film footage, including Ze'ev Jabotinsky speaking in Yiddish and Hebrew, Betar before the state of Israel was established and Menachem Begin speaking.


CONFERENCE: THINKING AFTER THE HOLOCAUST

On Tuesday night, a conference Thinking after the Holocaust: Voices from Poland and Israel was held at the Begin Center which was co-sponsored by the Begin Center and the World Jewish Congress Research Institute. Herzl Makov, Chairman of the Begin Center, opened the conference about Jewish life after the Holocaust, and introduced Dr. Sebastian Rejak, Bureau for Polish–Jewish Relations, Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Rabbi Sam Kassin, Dean Shenbar Sephardic Center, Jerusalem; and Prof. Daniel Grinberg, Prof. of History, University of Bialystok.


VISITORS

Nine classes from the Leo Beck High School in Haifa made their traditional trip to the Begin Center. In addition to visiting the museum, they also heard stories of the underground from the Hasten Library librarian, Bruria Ben-Senior-Romanoff, who remembers those days from her childhood.

Police personnel and groups of soldiers also came this week to participate in the new leadership workshops.