August 16, 2021 marks the 108th birthday of Menachem Begin, an early Zionist hero and leader of the Irgun who also served as Israel's 6th prime minister.
Born in 1913 in Russia, Begin started out his experience with religious Zionism from a young age in his schooling, his membership in Hashomer Hatzair and later joining the Betar movement before becoming a student of Revisionist Zionism movement founder Ze'ev Jabotinsky.
Begin eventually became a major figure in pre-state Israel, and most notably stood out as a member of the Irgun, one of the Zionist militia groups in Mandatory Palestine. In his capacity, he would plan numerous guerilla attacks on the British forces before finally joining with fellow militias Haganah and the Stern Gang (the Lehi) and ultimately fight against the Arabs in the War of Independence in 1948.
In the aftermath of the war, Begin became a rising force in Israeli politics, forming the Herut (Freedom) Party. It and its successor parties (Gahal and later Likud), all helmed by Begin, formed the main political opposition in the Knesset against the predecessors of the modern-day Labor Party, which was led by some of Israel's founding leaders like David Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres.
In 1977, Begin managed to surprisingly win the Knesset elections in a landslide in an event known in Israeli history as Mahapakh, or the upheaval, changing the course of Israeli history and giving power to religious and Mizrahi communities with a different economic policy to the socialist Labor leaders.
His administration saw changes in Israel's economic and social policies. He also made great strides in foreign affairs and in the conflict with the Arab world, notably authorizing the first Lebanon war and the bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor in Operation Opera.
However, arguably the crowning achievement of Begin's time in the Prime Minister's Office was the Camp David Accords, which saw Israel and Egypt make peace, the first time the Jewish state made formal diplomatic ties with an Arab nation and winning Begin the Nobel Peace Prize.
Begin's career ended in 1983 when he resigned, suffering from poor health and becoming increasingly depressed by both the Lebanon war and the loss of his wife, Aliza. After resigning, he took a step back from public life and secluded himself. He would eventually die on March 9, 1992.
Begin is remembered by many for different reasons, and he continues to have his detractors to this day. But as noted by Begin biographer Daniel Gordis in a 2013 column in The Jerusalem Post, "Begin’s life had, at its core, an unwavering constant, a guiding principle that shaped everything. It was a life of selfless devotion to his people. That devotion fashioned a life in which determination eradicated fear, hope overcame despondency, love overcame hate, and devotion to both Jews and human beings everywhere coexisted with ease and grace. It was a life of great loyalty – to the people into which he was born, to the woman he loved from the moment he met her, and to the state that he helped create."