Menachem Begin

Menachem Begin was born in 1913 in Brest

Begin was born in 1913 in Brest-Litovsk, then in the Russian Empire. He was the youngest of three children of Zeev Dov and Hassia Begin. His father was a Zionist and a community leader, and his parents and brother Herzl were murdered in the Holocaust.

He studied at a cheder and at a Tachkemoni school, and joined Betar in 1929. He studied law at the University of Warsaw and graduated in 1935, but never worked as a lawyer. He rose in Betar, became its head in Poland and married Aliza Arnold in 1939.

In 1940 the Soviet authorities arrested him and sentenced him to the gulag. After his release he joined the Polish Anders' Army and reached Palestine in 1942. He then joined the Irgun and in 1944 became its commander, leading a revolt against British rule.

In 1948 he founded Herut and was elected to the first Knesset, leading the opposition for years. He served as minister without portfolio from 1967 to 1970, and his Likud won the 1977 election. As prime minister he signed the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, ordered the bombing of the Osirak reactor and launched the 1982 Lebanon War.

His wife Aliza died in November 1982. He resigned in 1983 and stayed in his home in Jerusalem until his death in 1992. He was buried on the Mount of Olives.