Begin

In 1977, Menachem Begin became the sixth Prime Minister of the state of Israel. Begin was the head of the Likud Party, which was the oppsoing party of the Labour Party. The Likud Party believed that there should be negotiations in peace without territorial compromise and that self-government should be respected in the West Bank as long as a new state is not created. The Labour Party wanted some of the 1967 borders to be altered and was a supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The main government of Israel, Mapai, follows the Labour Party, therefore when Menachem Begin became head of office in 1977, he ended the Labour Party political dominance. One of Begin’s major accomplishments while Prime Minister was that in 1979 he signed a peace treaty with Egypt. Prior to this, Egypt and Israel were on unfriendly terms, which caused much tension between the countries. Egypt was in disagreement about the territories established during the Six-Day War. Begin froze Israeli settlements in West Bank to facilitate the progress of settlements. The only way the Egyptian leader, Sadat, would agree to the treaty was if the state of Sinai was returned to Egypt. In exchange for this promise to make peace, Begin calmly returned Sinai. Both Sadat and Begin received the Noble Peace Prize in 1978 due to their peaceful accomplishment. Begin also made investments in the national resources of Israeli to develop the poor neighborhoods of Israeli and to liberalize Israeli’s economy. Unlike the rebuilding of the peace and communities, Begin devoted his time to terminate invasions that were irrelevant to Israel. In 1981 Iraq invaded Lebanon, causing Begin to authorize Israeli Air Force bombing of the Osirak nuclear plant in Iraq. These actions influenced the Lebanon War in 1982, but Begin went through with these actions for a beneficial outcome. Menachem Begin’s years being Prime Minister came to a close on September 15 1983 because his wife devastatingly died in that year. Without significant explanation, Begin went into seclusion and died on March 9, 1992.

"Menachem Begin." Jewish Virtual Library. 26 May 2009 .

"The Years of Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start The Fire' - 1964-1989 (Part 3)." BBC Home. 26 May 2009 .