1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910462798603321

Autore

Shilon Avi

Titolo

Menachem Begin [[electronic resource] ] : a life / / Avi Shilon ; translated from the Hebrew by Danielle Zilberberg & Yoram Sharett

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Haven, : Yale University Press, 2012

ISBN

0-300-18903-6

1-283-90645-7

0-300-16235-9

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (1 online resource (xi, 545 pages, 12 unnumbered pages of plates) ) : illustrations (black and white)

Altri autori (Persone)

ZilberbergDanielle

SharettYoram

Disciplina

956.9405/4092

B

Soggetti

Revisionist Zionists - Israel

Prime ministers - Israel

Electronic books.

Israel Politics and government 20th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Political talent -- A commander's getaway -- Going underground -- Declaration of rebellion -- A bomb in the heart of the empire -- Jubilation and disappointment -- Rejected and outcast -- Be killed but do not transgress -- Buds of legitimacy -- The breakthrough -- Once more a rebel -- Against expectations -- God, you have chosen us to rule -- No more war -- Deterioration -- The Begin doctrine -- King of israel --There will be not a single katyusha  -- The downfall -- Self-flagellation -- Sharon was afraid of me -- Epilogue.

Sommario/riassunto

Menachem Begin, father of Israel's right wing and sixth prime minister of the nation, was known for his unflinchingly hawkish ideology. And yet, in 1979 he signed a groundbreaking peace treaty with Egypt for which he and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat received the Nobel Prize for Peace. Such a contradiction was typical in Begin's life: no other Israeli played as many different, sometimes conflicting, roles as Begin, and no other figure inspired such sharply opposing responses. Begin



was belittled and beloved, revered and despised, and his career was punctuated by exhilarating highs on the one hand, despair and ostracism on the other. This riveting biography is the first to provide a satisfactory answer to the question, Who was Begin? Based on wide-ranging research among archival documents and on testimonials and interviews with Begin's closest advisers, the book presents a detailed new portrait of the founding leader. Among the many topics the book holds up to new light are Begin's antagonistic relationship with David Ben-Gurion, his controversial role in the 1982 Lebanon War, his unique leadership style, the changes in his ideology over the years, and the mystery behind the total silence he maintained at the end of his career. Through Begin's remarkable life, the book also recounts the history of the right-wing segment of Israeli society, a story essential to understanding the Israel of today.