Israel After Begin

2. The Legacy of Begin and Beginism for the Israeli Political System

C H A P T E R T W O The Legacy of Begin and Beginism for the Israeli Political System* Ilan Peleg We Fight, Therefore We Are! Menachem Begin,zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihg The Revolt At this historical juncture, Israel's fortieth anniversary, it could be argued that with the exception of David Ben­Gurion, Menachem Begin was the single most important personality in the political history of the State of Israel. His impact was significant in a number of areas: (a) Begin was instrumental in the development of a bipartisan system in a country that traditionally had one dominant party; (b) Begin contributed to the development of a new ideology in Israel by intro­ ducing a large number of people (and eventually the entire population) to a new psycho­ideological framework (here called Neo­Revisionism); and (c) Begin changed some of the most fundamental assumptions of Israel's foreign and defense policy and was directly responsible for some innovations in the thinking about Israel's fundamental problems (e.g. in the area of solution to the status of the Palestinians, nuclear deterrence, the type of Arab­Israeli peace that Israel should aspire for, the nature of Israel's relations with Western powers, etc.). Begin also initiated processes (particularly on the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and zyxwvutsr *The author wishes to thank Myron Aronoff and Ian Lustick for comprehensive comments made on a previous version of the paper. The analysis in the paper is still the author's, unless specifically mentioned otherwise. 19 Ilan Peleg 20 the Golan Heights) that are likely to have long­term effects on the Israeli political system. One cautionary remark ought to be made in the outset. Methodologically, the assessment of the exactzyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaYWVUT personal contribution of Menachem Begin in any of these areas is extremely difficult. Govern­ mental decisions are usually made by scores of individuals and imple­ mented by thousands. The task of the historian, generations after the event, is to assess the precise impact of a particular individual on a specific decision, policy or development. Begin left office only five years ago and much of the material regarding his activities (especially as premier) is still unavailable to scholars; therefore, it would be presump­ tuous to claim precise knowledge as to his involvement in any defined area. This paper, therefore, will offer only a general analysis of the legacy that Begin left behind him. Because most of Begin7 s activities in the years 1977­1983 were public, the reconstruction of his record is possible. Although definitive interpretation is problematical, it is necessary and important. zyxwvutsrponmlkihgfedcbaYWUTSRPONMLJIHGFE Begin as an Agent of Bipartisanship* The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 found the Israeli Right in shambles. Two important Right Wing parties made an appear­ ance in the elections for the First Knesset, and both failed even to mount a serious challenge to Mapai, the dominant labor party. The General Zionists, a party representing the middle and upper­middle class and supportive of a laissez­faire economy, received only seven seats in the newly established Knesset; it quickly became a partner in the govern­ ment of David Ben­Gurion. Herut, the other Right Wing party, received fourteen seats in 1949 and dropped to only eight seats in 1951, a per­ formance that led its leader, Menachem Begin, seriously to contemplate withdrawal from political life altogether.1 The birth of Herut in 1948 signaled the victory of the military branch within the Revisionist movement, represented by the Irgun Zvai Leumi (IZL) under Begin, over the more moderate, "civilian" branch. Many of the veteran Revisionists were removed from power and denied influence in favor of the young Irgunists.2 In fact, immediately upon its inception, Herut published a ten­page programmatic booklet, *Much of this section is based on an article of mine in a book on the Middle East since 1967 edited by Yehuda Lukacs, The Arab­Israeli Conflict: Twenty Years After the Six Day War, Westview, 1988. 21 yxwvutsrp The Legacy of Begin entitledzyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA The Herut Movement (established by the Irgun Zvai Leum): Its Foundation and Principles. Herut‫׳‬ s close association with the IZL led to its defeat in the first election and in many more elections to come: the IZL was generally unpopular among the great majority of the Jews of Palestine and, later, among the Israelis. The lack of support for the IZL was based not only on widespread opposition to its...