The Retelling of a Begin Vignette

By Rabbi Stewart Weiss:-

...So what happened at Sinai?

I WOULD LIKE to respond to this classic question with a story from our recent history, one that is as relevant today - perhaps even more relevant - than when it first occurred. In 1978, the Camp David summit with Egypt resulted in the return of the entire Sinai Peninsula. US president Jimmy Carter, delirious with joy that Israel had decided to give two-thirds of its land mass to an enemy nation, decided he would try to push the envelope. He told prime minister Menachem Begin that, before ending the summit, he would like to discuss the issue of Jerusalem, that he wanted Israel to consider either ceding part of it, or internationalizing all of it.

Begin flatly refused Carter's request.



"At least think about it for a few days," said Carter.

"No!" said Begin defiantly.

"What?!" answered an incredulous Carter, "You won't even think about it? Why not? How can you be so obstinate?"

Begin replied: "I think it's time to tell you about Rabbi Amnon."

He then proceeded to relate to Carter the story of Rabbi Amnon of Mainz. Pressured incessantly by the bishop of that city to convert to Christianity, he finally asked for three days to think about it. He was then so overcome with guilt that he begged God for forgiveness. "How could I ever even contemplate such an act of heresy?" he lamented.

When he did not return to the bishop, Rabbi Amnon was cruelly tortured, his limbs amputated one by one. Yet through it all he did not relent. Maimed and mutilated, he was finally brought home. Three days later, on Rosh Hashana, he asked that he be brought to the synagogue and placed before the Holy Ark. There he uttered his famous prayer that has become the centerpiece of the High Holy Day liturgy - Un'taneh Tokef, Who shall live, and who shall die - and there he expired.

When Begin finished the story, he turned to Carter: "There are some things in life, Mr. President, that a Jew cannot even think about - and relinquishing Jerusalem in any way, shape or manner is one of them." With that emphatic statement, Begin returned home.

It is true that, normally, we weigh our important decisions with great deliberation and give pause to consider all the pros and cons.

The Writings and Words of Menachem Begin

In a book review of a volume of Moshe Sharett, we found this observation:

The fact that the writings and sayings of other Israeli prime ministers - including David Ben-Gurion, the most important and influential of all - have not been published so extensively creates a certain feeling of disproportion. Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir and even Menachem Begin - all prime ministers of considerable importance - have not had even a fraction of their written and spoken words issued in print.

At present, the State Archives are editing a volume of Menachem Begin's words in print and speech with professor Aryeh Naor in charge.

Mandate History

Here is a Makor Rishon item, reporting on the fact that the Menachem Begin Heritage Center received a cloth banner that had been strung up on wires over Tel Aviv streets back in 1946.



The banner, made out of what appears to be sheet material, was taken by a British policeman and upon his death, his daughter bequeathed it to a Dr. Michael Bloch living in Germany who then passed it on to the Center.

The newspaper item shows the original picture taken actually by an Irgun activist and the banner today. On the left is Yisrael Medad, Director of Information Resources who located the 1946 photograph and Rami Shtivi of the Archives on the right.

Center Bulletin, Vol. 5, No. 31

Menachem Begin Heritage Center Bulletin Vol. 5, No. 31 | 28 May 2009


TOTAL NUMBER OF VISITORS SINCE OCTOBER 2004: 491,979


ALL NIGHT LEARNING FOR SHAVUOT

It has become an annual tradition for the Begin Center to sponsor all-night learning on the evening of Shavuot and usually filling the whole Center to capacity. The Begin Center is located a short walk from the Old City of Jerusalem which allows participants to walk to the Kotel (Western Wall) for sunrise prayers in the morning.
The schedule for Shavuot 2009/5769, May 28-29, is as follows:

The main lectures, with simultaneous sign language translation, will be held in the Reuben Hecht Auditorium from 11:00pm until 3:00am. Lecturers will be Herzl Makov, Chairman of the Begin Center; Mrs. Bilha Ben Eliyahu; Dr. Aviad HaCohen; Dr. Ido Chevroni; and author, Chaim Be'er. Other lectures will be given in the Seminar Room by Jessica Sacks, Eliezer Schwartz and Baruch Barzel. Also, three locations will be set aside for learning groups.

At 3:30am, two guides will take groups to the Kotel for sunrise prayers.

(*Note: The Menachem Begin Heritage Museum is only open for a half day on May 28 and will be closed May 29.)


NEWS FROM THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

These early days of summer are the time for schools from around Israel to come to the Begin Center to participate in the concluding reenactments of the Junior Knesset, taking everything that they have learned over the past semester and putting it into practice. Most of the schools participate in the program in Hebrew, but this year the program was translated for the Alexander Muss School in Hod HaSharon to be done in English.

Many workshops were conducted for the Army leadership training program. The program continues to grow utilizing the Begin Center's unique location for historical tours of the area. There is now a tour for the soldiers called From the Underground to Independence. They visit the former train station, the King David Hotel, the Jabotinsky House, the Underground Prisoner's Museum and Heroism Shrine. This tour is different from the one in Yemin Moshe that reviews the defense of that neighborhood.

In recent weeks, we have had leadership workshops for a commando unit of the Navy and coordinators from a logistics base, among other regular army and military police groups.


VISITORS AND RESEARCH REQUESTS

Marc and Sheila Moller visited the Menachem Begin Heritage Center and toured the museum.

Ella Gurevich visited the Menachem Begin Heritage Center and museum with her son, Mitch.

American Friends of Likud hosted a breakfast meeting with Col. Bentzi Gruber who spoke about ethics in the field as well as touching on the situation in Gaza with the smuggling tunnels.

The Begin Center was notified that a quote attributed to Menachem Begin is floating around the internet. The quote is blatantly falsified and grossly misleading. The Information and Content department researched the source and directed the questioner to a research site that sheds more light on this specific instance of manufactured quotation.

A documentary filmmaker visited the Center to do some research about the Altalena.

Target of Jews, Sorry, of Muslims is World Domination

My, oh my.

...The evidence showed that HLF was part of a broad Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy in the United States called the Palestine Committee, which was to serve Hamas with "media, money and men." Those exhibits show the depth of Muslim Brotherhood activity here, which at its height included a think tank in Virginia, a propaganda arm in Texas and Chicago, and a political operation that continues to exert influence today.

It also led to the discovery of a Brotherhood memorandum from 1991 that describes the group's goal in America. It called for a "civilization-jihadist process" and a "grand jihad" that aimed at "eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within … so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions."

Source

On p. 18 of that memorandum, and on top of p. 19, funnily enough, I found this:

2- The priority that is approved by the Shura Council for the work of the Group in its current and former session which is "Settlement".
- - -
5- Presenting Islam as a civilization alternative
6- Supporting the establishment of the global Islamic State wherever it is].

"Settlement"? Isn't that something Muslims believe to be illegal?

Almost. On the next page, 19, it reads:

The Concept of Settlement:

This term was mentioned in the Group's "dictionary" and documents with various meanings in spite of the fact that everyone meant one thing with it. We believe that the understanding of the essence is the same and we will attempt here to give the word and its "meanings" a practical explanation with a practical Movement tone, and not a philosophical linguistic explanation, while stressing that this explanation of ours is not complete until our explanation of "the process" of settlement itself is understood which is mentioned in the following paragraph. We briefly say the following:

Settlement: "That Islam and its Movement become a part of the homeland it lives in".

Establishment: "That Islam turns into firmly-rooted organizations on whose bases civilization, structure and testimony are built".

Stability: "That Islam is stable in the land on which its people move".

Enablement: "That Islam is enabled within the souls, minds and the lives of the people of the country in which it moves".

Rooting: "That Islam is resident and not a passing thing, or rooted "entrenched" in the soil of the spot where it moves and not a strange plant to it".

So, there's a world conquest campaign of religious domination - and the Jews aren't involved. Too bad for those anti-semites.


(Kippah tip: Pam at AtlasShrugs)

Correcting A Misquotation Reputedly By Menachem Begin

This past week, the Begin Center received this request for information:

Can you please help me with this?

This quote

"Our race is the Master Race. We are divine gods on this planet. We are as different from the inferior races as they are from insects. In fact, compared to our race, other races are beasts and animals, cattle at best. Other races are considered as human excrement. Our destiny is to rule over the inferior races. Our earthly kingdom will be ruled by our leader with a rod of iron. The masses will lick our feet and serve us as our slaves."

is attributed to Begin and it is all over the web.

Do you know where it came from?

This was our reply:

Dear S_____,

I gave your request to our director of information and content and after some thorough research, I have the following for you:

First of all, Mr. Begin never said those words and there is no factual basis for that quote. When we searched for the quote, we found that it looped back to the same text by Texe Marrs, who does not say that he is quoting Begin.

Further research at this site showed that the quote was attributed to "Amnon Kapeliouk's article "Begin and the Beasts" (New Statesman, June 25, 1982) which was infamous for having misrepresented some remarks Menachem Begin said in a speech to the Knesset, and there are legitimate sources all over the net that make reference to that incident.

However, the misrepresented quote is not the one cited ("Our race is the Master Race", etc.), but another one entirely (see below). Clearly, someone invented the "Master Race" quote and then tacked on Amnon Kapeliouk as the source, to give it credibility. However, even the REAL (and far less offensive) quote has now been proven to have been misrepresented by Kapeliouk.

The REAL story involving Kapeliouk's article is provided by a media-watch group called CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), which regularly debunks bogus news reports and misquotes.

Here:

...Internet hate sites, as well as Fisk, attribute the derogation of Palestinians as “two-legged beasts” to former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. The source generally given is:

Menachem Begin, as quoted in Amnon Kapeliouk, "Begin and the Beasts, "New Statesman, June 25, 1982

Indeed, the radical French-Israeli journalist, Amnon Kapeliouk, did attribute such a quote to Begin in his New Statesman article criticizing Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. The author posited:

For this reason the government has gone to extraordinary lengths to dehumanize the Palestinians. Begin described them in a speech in the Knesset as "beasts walking on two legs

However, further investigation by CAMERA reveals that the actual speech upon which Kapeliouk based his quote, as well as news reports at the time demonstrate that the journalist distorted the quote, giving it a completely different tone and meaning. Begin was referring not to "the Palestinians" in a general sense but very specifically, he was referring to terrorists who target children within Israel...Kapeliouk neither recanted nor apologized for his deception...

I hope that helps.

Moreover, we will be conferring with others in Israel and abroad to attempt to verify that the no one has ever heard or seen this quote and whether it is authentic. At present, we understand that there is no reliable source and until proven otherwise, which we doubt can be done based on our archival mateiral and personal familiarity with Mr. Begin, we reject the veracity of the words supposedly either spoken or conveyed.

The quotation is bogus.

_________________--


P.S.

In the context of talking about defending the children of Israel from terror attacks, he said the following:

The children of Israel will happily go to school and joyfully return home, just like the children in Washington, in Moscow, and in Peking, in Paris and in Rome, in Oslo, in Stockholm and in Copenhagen. The fate of… Jewish children has been different from all the children of the world throughout the generations. No more. We will defend our children. If the hand of any two-footed animal is raised against them, that hand will be cut off, and our children will grow up in joy in the homes of their parents.

But, here there are Katyushas, missiles and artillery shells day and night, with the sole intention of murdering our women and children. There are military targets in the Galilee. What a characteristic phenomenon, they are protected, completely immune to these terrorists. Only at the civilian population, only to shed our blood, just to kill our children, our wives, our sisters, our elderly. 

He clearly wasn’t characterizing ‘Palestinians’ as two-legged/footed beasts/animals, only those who would murder innocent children.

^

Center Bulletin, Vol. 5, No. 30

Menachem Begin Heritage Center Bulletin Vol. 5, No. 30 20 June 2009

TOTAL NUMBER OF VISITORS SINCE OCTOBER 2004: 490,161


JERUSALEM DAY AT THE BEGIN CENTER

The Menachem Begin Heritage Center, located on the Hinnom Ridge overlooking the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, will be sponsoring and hosting four events leading up to the celebrations of Jerusalem Day.

The first event took place on May 13 at 5:30pm with 90 people filling the seminar room at the Begin Center to capacity. The event was co-sponsored by the Movement for Strengthening Jerusalem which is an organization established by the Zionist Council in Israel. The panel discussion was on the topic of strengthening Jerusalem as a national mission. On the panel were Minister Beny Begin, Prof. Ephraim Inbar, head of the BESA Center at Bar Ilan University and Avi Ro'e, head of the municipality of Mateh Binyamin.

On May 17, more than 200 people attended a special commemorative evening for Ethiopian Jews. Jerusalem Day has been designated as a national commemoration day for Ethiopian Jews who died trying to make the journey from Ethiopia to Israel via the Sudan by foot. At the ceremony survivors spoke movingly of the lengthy and dangerous journey. Tzipi Livni, Head of the Opposition in the Knesset; The Minister of Immigration and Absorption, Sofa Landver; former head of the Mossad during Menachem Begin's second term, Nahum Admoni and representatives from the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews all spoke during the evening. Part of the evening was dedicated to a very interesting panel discussion and traditional Ethiopian music was played on traditional instruments. The evening concluded with a special prayer sung by the "Kaysim" (Elders) of the Ethiopian community which was dedicated to those Ethiopians that died on the way to Israel.

On May 19 at 8pm, the Reuben Hecht Auditorium was filled to capacity with a boisterous and enthusiastic crowd for another evening of songs, poems and sing-a-longs with Nahum Heyman, recipient of this year's Israel Prize. The first half of the evening was dedicated to songs about Jerusalem and the second half was dedicated to the songs of David Zahavi and Mattiyahu Shalem, as representatives of the Labor-affiliated cooperative settlement movement.

Upcoming Events:

On May 21, Jerusalem Day, the Menachem Begin Heritage Center will launch its newest program National Films at the Begin Center, in coordination with the 12 Tribes Foundation. Films will be on the subjects of Judaism, Zionism, History of Israel and the Jewish People. There are 6 films in the series and will be shown every three weeks after the Parashat HaShavua program. All films will be subtitled in English, but discussions will take place in Hebrew with either the director of the film or people who are related in some way to the subject matter of the film. Dates for the program are as follows: May 21; June 11; July 2; July 23; August 13; August 27.

The first film will be shown at 8:30pm, May 21, and is called Alone on the Walls. This is a documentary about the battle for the Old City of Jerusalem in 1948 using interviews from the participants in the battle. Natan Gini, a fighter in that battle, will speak after the film. The film is in Hebrew with English subtitles and the discussion afterward is in Hebrew. The admission is 30 NIS and reservations are required (02) 565-2020.

Details of other films will be featured in future bulletins.



ALL NIGHT LEARNING FOR SHAVUOT

It has become an annual tradition for the Begin Center to sponsor all-night learning on the evening of Shavuot and usually filling the whole Center to capacity. The Begin Center is located a short walk from the Old City of Jerusalem which allows participants to walk to the Kotel (Western Wall) for sunrise prayers in the morning.
The schedule for Shavuot 2009/5769 is as follows:

The main lectures, with simultaneous sign language translation, will be held in the Reuben Hecht Auditorium from 11:00pm until 3:00am. Lecturers will be Herzl Makov, Chairman of the Begin Center; Mrs. Bilha Ben Eliyahu; Dr. Aviad HaCohen; Dr. Ido Chevroni; and author, Chaim Be'er. Other lectures will be given in the Seminar Room by Jessica Sacks, Eliezer Schwartz and Baruch Barzel. Also, three locations will be set aside for learning groups.

At 3:30am, two guides will take groups to the Kotel for sunrise prayers.



BEGIN AND SADAT SLIGHTED BY JAFFA MUNICIPALITY

Citizens of the city of Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv, wanted to name the main square with their famous clock tower after Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat, but were thwarted by the City Council who decided to name the square after one of the founders of Tel Aviv University.

The naming of the square at the entrance to Jaffa for Yossi Carmel, the late military attaché and one of the founders of Tel Aviv University, has angered local residents, who want the square be named in honor of the Nobel Peace Prize winners Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin. The square, to be dedicated tonight, abuts the well-known Jaffa clock tower. Residents say they want the landmark to bear a name that represents co-existence between Jews and Arabs.

(To read more, please click the link to our blog.)



BEGIN CENTER TRIP NORTH OF JERUSALEM

The annual Begin Center employees' trip took place on Tuesday, May 19, with 25 persons visiting the Achiyah community in the Benjamin Region and listening to the emotional story of Ronit Schuker, the olive factory at Shiloh, Tel Shiloh including a weaving workshop and wine tasting at the Psagot Winery at Migron. A good time was had by all.

100 Years Earlier

The following photograph was taken in 1898 and shows the area nearby the Begin Center.



In the photograph, taken on the day of the opening ceremony, you can see on the right the newly inaugurated Train Station, the Scottish Church a bit to the left and in the center in the distance the Montifiore Windmill.

Jaffa Square Won't Be Named After Begin & Sadat

Why won't Israel name Jaffa square after Begin and Sadat?

The naming of the square at the entrance to Jaffa for Yossi Carmel, the late military attache and one of the founders of Tel Aviv University, has angered local residents, who want the square be named in honor of the Nobel Peace Prize winners Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin. The square, to be dedicated tonight, abuts the well-known Jaffa clock tower. Residents say they want the landmark to bear a name that represents co-existence between Jews and Arabs.

"It's opportunism, there's no other word for it," said Ahmed Masharawi, a Jaffa resident and a Tel Aviv-Jaffa City Council member from the Meretz Party. "The central square has been hijacked right out from under the noses of Jaffa residents."

According to Masharawi, the only reason the square is to be named after Carmel is because his friends and family contributed money to the Tel Aviv Foundation. "Municipal property is sold to the highest bidder," he said. "I'm asking the city to call this off. We don't want to hurt the feelings of the Carmel family, which isn't a party to this matter. But Jaffa has only one central square. Is the city of Tel Aviv giving itself a gift for its centennial anniversary by hijacking our square?"

"I am shocked at this unbelievable opportunism," said Jaffa resident Sari Shilon. "[This] follows our demonstrations and requests that the central square, the face of the city which greets visitors, bear a name that matches the mixed population - in a call for peace and brotherhood. It's proof of the [city's] contempt for people who live in Jaffa."

"There's nothing left to say," according to Saliman Setel, leader of the southern branch of the Islamic Movement in the city. "The municipality does all these things as if there were no Arabs living in Jaffa."

According to Shilon, "The main point is that the square is the gateway to Jaffa. It is impossible to call the main square in Jaffa, flanked by [historic 19th century Ottoman buildings], the Saraya [government offices], and the Kishle [a prison], by the name of someone we don't know."...

Countering Anti-Begin Claims and Distortions

If you click here, you will be able to read a typical Arab propaganda piece on the subject of Jerusalem.

Amidst the writer's claims, was: "In his book, The Revolt, Menachem Begin, the Irgun leader recounted how his terrorist group bombed the Arab villages in Jerusalem from Dec. 11 to 13, 1947."

I left there the following comment:

However, if one turns to page 337 in The Revolt, one reads, seven lines up from the bottom of the page, this:

"After two weeks of Arab attacks, the soldiers of the Irgun launched the first counter-attacks by Jewish forces".

You have made quite a selective quotation which, of course, completely corrupts the source.

On The Matter of a "Settlement Freeze"

A review from an anti-settlement group:

The Begin-Carter Settlement Freeze

The freeze idea was born at a time when settlement expansion was in its infancy. Israel had occupied the West Bank for hardly a decade, and with the exception of East Jerusalem, settlements claimed only small numbers of inhabitants; most had yet to shed an air of impermanence. There were less than 5,000 Israelis living in less than 30 West Bank settlements. The settler population in East Jerusalem numbered 50,000. Administration of all settlement-related activities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip was largely controlled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and the integration of settlements and settlers into the routine bureaucratic life of Israel’s civilian ministries was still some years off. In this era, marked by the election of Menachem Begin in 1977, there was a legitimate basis to view a cessation of settlement as a confidence-building measure.

In a letter to President Jimmy Carter delivered after the September 1977 Camp David summit, Begin offered a three month moratorium on establishing new settlements rather than the longer moratorium preferred by Washington. Restrictions on the expansion of existing settlements had been dropped at Israel’s insistence. On the face of it, Begin’s agreement to halt new settlement creation for even three months was a bold and surprising concession. Yet, and not for the last time, Israel’s commitment to a moratorium did not constrain settlement but rather established categories of expansion implicitly endorsed by Washington. The temporary moratorium on new settlements notwithstanding, the Begin government continued to “thicken” and “strengthen” settlements, at times establishing new sites kilometers away from existing colonies during the three month period. Carter administration officials were frustrated by Israel’s actions, but acquiesced.

In contrast to Begin’s agreement to the partial, temporary, and ineffective restrictions on Israeli settlement actions in the West Bank and Gaza—East Jerusalem was excluded implicitly—the peace treaty with Egypt signified a strategic Israeli decision to trade territory for new security mechanisms that required Israel’s evacuation of all settlements in territory returned to Egyptian sovereignty. Only in the context of an Israeli decision to withdraw from Egyptian territory was it possible for Israel, through its complete evacuation of the Sinai Peninsula, to adopt and enforce an effective halt to settlement expansion. Indeed Israeli settlement activity in Sinai increased in the months before evacuation until the IDF forcibly removed the Sinai settlers. Settlement activity undertaken within the strategic context of imminent evacuation proved to be irrelevant.

Benny Morris Recalls Begin in The Guardian

In a pro-Israel piece countering an article by Max Hastings, Benny Morris writes:

Hastings implicitly takes Israel to task – "whatever government is in power in Jerusalem" –for failing to negotiate peace and preferring "its military capability". What of the Begin government, which gave up the Sinai peninsula in exchange for peace with Egypt? What of the Rabin government, which gave up slices of territory for peace with Jordan? What of the Barak government, which agreed to give up the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and 95% of the West Bank in December 2000? What of the Sharon government, which unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in the hope this might pave the way for a resolution?

Center Bulletin, Vol. 5, No. 29

Menachem Begin Heritage Center Bulletin Vol. 5, No. 29 | 14 May 2009


TOTAL NUMBER OF VISITORS SINCE OCTOBER 2004: 488,404


JERUSALEM DAY AT THE BEGIN CENTER

The Menachem Begin Heritage Center, located on the Hinnom Ridge overlooking the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, will be building up to the celebrations of Jerusalem Day with four events.

The first event took place on May 13 at 5:30pm with 90 people filling the seminar room at the Begin Center to capacity. The event was co-sponsored by the Movement for Strengthening Jerusalem which is an organization established by the Zionist Council in Israel. The panel discussion was on the topic of strengthening Jerusalem as a national mission. On the panel were Minister Beny Begin, Prof. Ephraim Inbar, head of the BESA Center at Bar Ilan University and Avi Ro'e, head of the municipality of Mateh Binyamin.

Upcoming Events:

On May 17, there will be a special commemorative evening for Ethiopian Jews. Jerusalem Day has been designated as a national commemoration day for Ethiopian Jews who died trying to make the journey from Ethiopia to Israel via the Sudan by foot. At the ceremony we will hear from survivors of the lengthy and dangerous journey. Also taking part will be the Minister of Immigration and Absorption, Sofa Landver; former head of the Mossad during Menachem Begin's second term, Nahum Admoni and representatives from the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews. This event will be in Hebrew, is free, but reservations are required (02) 565-2020.

On May 19 at 8pm, another evening of songs, poems and sing-a-longs will take place with Nahum Heyman, recipient of this year's Israel Prize. The first half of the evening will be dedicated to songs about Jerusalem and the second half will be the songs of David Zahavi and Mattiyahu Shalem, as representatives of the Labor-affiliated cooperative settlement movement. This event is in Hebrew, admission is 40 NIS and reservations are required (02) 565-2020.

On May 21, Jerusalem Day, the Menachem Begin Heritage Center will show a film in the Reuben Hecht Auditorium at 8:30pm called Alone on the Walls. This is a documentary about the battle for the Old City of Jerusalem in 1948 using interviews from the participants in the battle. Natan Gini, a fighter in that battle, will speak after the film. The film is in Hebrew with English subtitles and the discussion afterward is in Hebrew. The admission is 30 NIS and reservations are required (02) 565-2020.


BEGIN CENTER IN THE JEWISH TRIBUNE

An article featuring the Begin Center was published in the Jewish Tribune which is a Jewish weekly newspaper based in Toronto, Canada. Atara Beck, who visited the Center this week, wrote a very nice article explaining the history and mission of the Center and its various programs. To see the article online, click here.

Other media mentions:

Yonatan Touval wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times in which he quotes Menachem Begin:

But it is a statement that was made in June 1977 by then-prime minister Menachem Begin. A sentimental nationalist of the highest order, Begin was nevertheless able to identify the only kind of recognition that Israel should require: “I re-emphasize that we do not expect anyone to request, on our behalf, that our right to exist in the land of our fathers, be recognized. It is a different recognition which is required between us and our neighbors: recognition of sovereignty and of the mutual need for a life of peace and understanding.”

William Safire, in his "On Language" column in the Sunday New York Times, also quoted Begin:

For more than the century and a half that followed, the phrase war of necessity dominated, and war of choice seemed to fade. But Menachem Begin, the Israeli prime minister — who may well have studied Maimonides — speaking in Hebrew on Aug. 8, 1982, to the National Defense College in Jerusalem about Israel’s “Operation Peace for Galilee” war in Lebanon, contrasted what was officially translated as “wars of no alternative” with “wars of choice.” He included the War of Independence and the Yom Kippur War as “no alternative,” fighting for the nation’s very existence, but the Sinai campaign and the Six-Day War and the Lebanon operation as “wars of choice” — akin to what others would call “preventive war” — quite justifiable for self-defense but with alternatives arguably available. One year later, the Times columnist Anthony Lewis wrote, “In Israel there were and are deep divisions over what is called a ‘war of choice’ — not of necessity.”

To see more articles like these, visit the Center Blog site


POPE BENEDICT XVI VISITS ISRAEL; SLOWS DOWN JERUSALEM

Many streets in Jerusalem were closed due to security precautions for the Pope's visit. Thus, many people avoided coming to Jerusalem or travelling anywhere near the area. The Begin Center is perfectly situated to see Mt. Zion where Pope Benedict XVI visited during his stay.

New York Times Op-ed Columnist Quotes Begin

Here is a statement you will not hear today from Jerusalem: “I wish to declare that the government of Israel will not ask any nation, be it near or far, mighty or small, to recognize our right to exist.”

But it is a statement that was made in June 1977 by then-prime minister Menachem Begin. A sentimental nationalist of the highest order, Begin was nevertheless able to identify the only kind of recognition that Israel should require: “I re-emphasize that we do not expect anyone to request, on our behalf, that our right to exist in the land of our fathers, be recognized. It is a different recognition which is required between us and our neighbors: recognition of sovereignty and of the mutual need for a life of peace and understanding.”

A Recognition Israel Doesn’t Need
by YONATAN TOUVAL


P.S. In quoting Begin as if to counterpoint Israe's current policy to demand that Israel as a Jewish state be recognized, Touval is, of course, mixing his metaphors. There is a difference between Begin's approach and the current Palestinain Authority's stand not to recognize Israel as the Jewish state.

Begin Center in Canada's "The Jewish Tribune"

The Begin Center in Canada's Jewish Tribune.

Menachem Begin Heritage Center Bulletin Vol. 5. No. 28 | 7 May 2009

Center Bulletin Vol. 5. No. 28 7 May 2009

TOTAL NUMBER OF VISITORS SINCE OCTOBER 2004: 487,238


A NEW INITIATIVE AT THE BEGIN CENTER

The Menachem Begin Heritage Center is pleased to announce the launch of its new program for post-high school Jewish students from around the world - GaP (Government and Politics) in Israel. Following in the footsteps of the enormously success Israel Government Fellows program for young Diaspora Jewish leaders, the new program offers outstanding and highly motivated Jewish post-high school students (18-19) an opportunity to study government, politics and society, with an emphasis on the Israeli context, at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, as well as Hebrew and Arabic in a specially tailored program that also includes trips and extended hikes across Israel which will not just explore the Israeli landscape but its people.

The program’s duration is nine months and is based in Jerusalem. There will be two semesters of academic study, which will provide 30 academic credits from the Hebrew University, the most prestigious university in Israel. During the semesters participants will study four days a week and volunteer in Jerusalem for one day.

Participants will also have the opportunity to take part in roundtable discussions with key decision-makers and opinion-formers in Israeli government and society.
The program is currently recruiting for its inaugural session, starting October 1st, 2009. More information is available from its dedicated website www.gapisrael.org.il.


JERUSALEM DAY AT THE BEGIN CENTER

The Menachem Begin Heritage Center, located on the Hinnom Ridge overlooking the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, will be building up to the celebrations of Jerusalem Day with four events.

The first event will be on May 13 at 5:30pm. Along with the Begin Center, the event is co-sponsored by the Movement for Strengthening Jerusalem which is an organization established by the Zionist Council in Israel. The panel discussion will be on the topic of strengthening Jerusalem as a national mission. On the panel will be Minister Beny Begin, Prof. Ephraim Inbar, head of the BESA Center at Bar Ilan University and Avi Ro'e, head of the municipality of Mateh Binyamin. This event is in Hebrew and reservations are required (02-565-2020).

On May 17, there will be a special commemorative evening for Ethiopian Jews. Jerusalem Day has been designated as a national commemoration day for Ethiopian Jews who died trying to make the journey from Ethiopian to Israel via the Sudan by foot. At the ceremony we will hear from survivors of the lengthy and dangerous journey. Also taking part will be the Minister of Immigration and Absorption, Sofa Landver; former head of the Mossad during Menachem Begin's second term, Nahum Admoni and representatives from the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews. This event will be in Hebrew, is free, but reservations are required (02-565-2020).

On May 19 at 8pm, another evening of songs, poems and sing-a-longs will take place with Nahum Heyman, recipient of this year's Israel Prize. The first half of the evening will be dedicated to songs about Jerusalem and the second half will be the songs of David Zahavi and Mattiyahu Shalem, as representatives of the Labor-affilliated cooperative settlement movement.

On May 21, Jerusalem Day, the Menachem Begin Heritage Center will show a film in the Reuben Hecht Auditorium at 8:30pm called Alone on the Walls. This is a documentary about the battle for the Old City of Jerusalem in 1948 using interviews from the participants in the battle. Natan Gini, a fighter in that battle, will speak after the film.


CONSTRUCTION AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE BEGIN CENTER

A minor construction project is underway at the entrance to the Begin Center at the sidewalk portion adjacent to Nahon Street. The plan is to build retractable barriers so that delivery vehicles can enter the area, but other vehicles will not be able to enter.

Given that the Begin Center is located on an archeological site, the Israel Antiquities Authority has posted a supervisor to assure than no artifacts, if any are found, will be damaged.

We remind our visitors to be aware and cautious when entering the Begin Center.





PARASHAT HASHAVUA UPDATE

Dr. Shelli Goldberg has finished her section of the Torah which was very popular and attracted large audiences every week. This week, Rabbi Aviah HaCohen will complete the book of Leviticus and the week after start the next book Numbers.

Reflecting On Autonomy

From a column by left-winger Yoel Marcus in Haaretz:

I hope the reports to the effect that Netanyahu will offer the Palestinians self-rule are a joke. After all, the idea of autonomy died even before the death of its inventor, Menachem Begin.

Menachem Begin Quoted in the Sunday New York Times

William Safire devoted his "On Language" column in the Sunday New York Times to the topic 'Choice or Necessity' as regards the different types of wars nations wage and he saw fit to quote Menachem Begin.

On a “Meet the Press” in February 2004, Tim Russert asked President George W. Bush whether, in light of not finding weapons of mass destruction, “you believe the war in Iraq is a war of choice or a war of necessity?” Bush replied: “It’s a war of necessity. In my judgment, we had no choice when we look at the intelligence I looked at that says the man [Saddam Hussein] was a threat.”

The question was probably bottomed on a combination of phrases in a Washington Post op-ed article that appeared not three months before by Richard Haass, who was a foreign-policy adviser in both Bush administrations and is now president of the Council on Foreign Relations. Haass, a longtime pal despite our different foreign-policy mind-sets, has a book out this month that is an insider’s memoir of the two U.S.-Iraq wars titled, “War of Necessity, War of Choice” (Simon & Schuster, $27).

The competing phrases are likely to be the rhetorical fulcrum of debate for the next months or years about the war in Afghanistan, and each is fraught with opinion. (Fraught is academese for “weighted, freighted, laden,” usually married to “with danger.”) As the two collocations line up “realists” (like the elder Bush and Obama) against “idealists” (like Reagan and Bush the younger), the clashing words deserve analyses of their origins and contrast.

Haass cites Maimonides, the 12th century Jewish scholar, as differentiating “obligatory” wars of religion and defense from more “optional” campaigns extending boundaries. Grant Barrett, partner in the new online dictionary Wordnik.com, has found the first English use placing both phrases in direct opposition in The Times (London) of 1801. Lord Romney (later Earl of Romney, no kin to our Mitt) wrote about the war between France and England that led to the Treaty of Amiens a year later: “It was not a war of choice on our part, but a war of necessity. . . . We engaged in it for the protection of our Laws, our Constitution, our Liberty, and Religion; and in this object we succeeded.” Note that in this first instance of the phrases used together, the war of choice was mildly derogated while the war of necessity was used to denote a justifiable war of self-protection.

Along came Napoleon; and Britain’s Prince Regent, who later became George IV, told Parliament in November 1813 that “the war, in which the allied powers are engaged against the ruler of France, is a war of necessity to defeat “his views of universal dominion.”

For more than the century and a half that followed, the phrase war of necessity dominated, and war of choice seemed to fade. But Menachem Begin, the Israeli prime minister — who may well have studied Maimonides — speaking in Hebrew on Aug. 8, 1982, to the National Defense College in Jerusalem about Israel’s “Operation Peace for Galilee” war in Lebanon, contrasted what was officially translated as “wars of no alternative” with “wars of choice.” He included the War of Independence and the Yom Kippur War as “no alternative,” fighting for the nation’s very existence, but the Sinai campaign and the Six-Day War and the Lebanon operation as “wars of choice” — akin to what others would call “preventive war” — quite justifiable for self-defense but with alternatives arguably available. One year later, the Times columnist Anthony Lewis wrote, “In Israel there were and are deep divisions over what is called a ‘war of choice’ — not of necessity.”

Through the next decade, Barrett reports, both phrases were used about a variety of conflicts, including a war of choice in Bosnia. On March 9, 2003, Thomas Friedman brought the two phrases up to date regarding Iraq: “This is not a war of necessity. That was Afghanistan. Iraq is a war of choice — a legitimate choice to preserve the credibility of the U.N., which Saddam has defied for 12 years.”

Haass’s Times op-ed in November of that year also called Iraq a war of choice as counterpoint to necessity but gave it a clearly pejorative connotation, which probably led to Russert’s popularization of the contrasting collocations. (Curiously, choice, as in “pro choice,” is a word warmly embraced by most liberals, as it is in “health care choice” by most conservatives.)

Today, war of necessity is used by critics of military action to describe unavoidable response to an attack like that on Pearl Harbor that led to our prompt, official declaration of war, while they characterize as unwise wars of choice the wars in Korea, Vietnam and the current war in Iraq. Contrariwise, more hawkish groups reject the phrase war of choice as loaded against the legitimate use of armed forces to destroy terror bases, protect national interests or combat egregious human rights abuses or genocide. In this regard, supporters of the current Obama policy of continuing to commit United States combat troops to the war in Afghanistan may have to reconsider the pejorative connotation of war of choice.

The tricky lexical part is this: When an attack is thought to be impending and preventive or pre-emptive attack is being urged, the argument is made that the choice is an urgent necessity.

Menachem Begin Quoted

In a blog post disussing the merits of torture on the background of the recent American experience, Andrew Sullivan has quoted Menachem Begin twice.

Here

Maybe Krauthammer would take Menachem Begin's word on how sleep deprivation is indeed torture, as he experienced it under the Soviets.

where he referred to this one from three years ago:

Menachem Begin was subjected to sleep deprivation as a torture technique in the Soviet Gulag. He describes a torture victim who is

"wearied to death, his legs are unsteady, and he has one sole desire to sleep, to sleep just a little, not to get up, to lie, to rest, to forget ... Anyone who has experienced the desire knows that not even hunger or thirst are comparable it with it."

Maybe this helps bridge some of the gap in understanding between those of us who oppose torture and those who think we are being hyperbolic hysterics. The issue is not sadism. It is compulsion.

The source is, of course, "White Nights", page 153 in the recent brand-new revised edition whuch has been published by the Begin Center and is available for purchase.