Ze'ev Binyamin "Benny" Begin, (; born 1 March 1943) is an Israeli

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

. He was a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (wit ...

for New Hope, having previously served as a member for

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel S ...

and

Herut – The National Movement Herut – The National Movement ( he, חרות – התנועה הלאומית, ''Herut – HaTnu'a HaLeumit''), commonly known as just Herut (), was a minor right-wing political party in Israel. Though it saw itself as the ideological successor ...

. He is the son of former

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exe ...

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. ...

Biography

Ze'ev Binyamin (Benny) Begin was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

to Aliza and

. He studied geology at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

. After completing his undergraduate and graduate studies, he worked for the Geological Survey of Israel. He completed his doctorate in geology at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado S ...

in 1978.

Political career

First elected to the Knesset in 1988 as a

MK, Begin ran in the Likud leadership election in 1993 to succeed

Yitzhak Shamir Yitzhak Shamir ( he, יצחק שמיר, ; born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician and the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms, 1983–1984 and 1986–1992. Before the establishment ...

as party leader but was defeated by

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

. Under Netanyahu's

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

(1996–1999), Begin served as Science Minister until 1997 when he resigned in protest against the Hebron Agreement. He subsequently led hardliners out of the Likud with the hope of reviving the

Herut Herut ( he, חֵרוּת, ''Freedom'') was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. History Herut was founded by Menachem Begin ...

political party founded by his father. With full support from former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir,

departed from the Likud and joined other right-wing parties to form the National Union, an alliance opposing the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993;

. Owing to the National Union's poor showing in the 1999 elections, Begin resigned his seat and quit politics. He resumed his career in science and education, and was appointed Director of the Geological Survey of Israel. Begin announced on 2 November 2008 his return to politics and the Likud party, as well as his intention to seek a place on the Likud list for the 2009 elections. He ultimately won fifth place on the party's list, and returned to the Knesset with Likud winning 27 seats. Netanyahu had promised Begin a ministerial position if Likud won the election and honored that promise by appointing Begin a Minister without Portfolio in the new government. Begin did not run in the 2013 elections, but returned to politics in the 2015 elections running on the 11th place on the Likud party list, the spot reserved for a candidate appointed by party leader Netanyahu. Following the elections, he was appointed Minister without Portfolio in the new government. His term with the government lasted only eleven days. After Prime Minister Netanyahu convinced

Gilad Erdan Gilad Menashe Erdan ( he, גִּלְעָד מְנַשֶּׁה אֶרְדָן, ; born 30 September 1970) is an Israeli politician and diplomat serving as Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations since 2020. Erdan previously serv ...

to join the government as Minister of Public Security, Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy, Begin was forced to resign as Likud's coalition agreement limited the party to 13 ministers. Benny Begin officially left Likud and joined

Gideon Sa'ar Gideon Moshe Sa'ar ( he, גִּדְעוֹן סַעַר; born 9 December 1966) is an Israeli politician who has served as Minister of Justice since June 2021. Sa'ar was previously a member of the Knesset for the Likud between 2003 and 2014, as De ...

's New Hope party on 21 January 2021. Begin was placed sixth on New Hope's list for the 2021 elections. He gained a seat in the 24th Knesset as New Hope won six seats. Begin announced his retirement from politics on 28 July 2022 due to his age, but stated that he would campaign for the Blue and White–New Hope alliance during the 2022 election.

Views and opinions

In an interview with ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

'' in 2009, Begin explained his opposition to a Palestinian state, proposing instead an Arab autonomy under Israeli control, since "without security control in Samaria, Judea and Gaza there will be no security in Tel Aviv, either." He concluded with his belief that we must "live together with people who do not want us... ndbehave humanely and decently both with the Israeli citizens who are not Jews and with those who are not citizens. Is there a contradiction between my nationalism and my liberalism? I believe that this is a day-to-day effort to which I and he is obligated." On 3 March 2019, Begin said that he was "deeply troubled" after reading the Israeli attorney general's 57-page document detailing the suspicions against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Begin was one of the few members of the then-governing coalition to support the attorney general.

Personal life

Begin is married, and had six children. One son, Yonatan, was a fighter pilot with the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defens ...

who was killed when his

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successf ...

fighter jet crashed in 2000. Another son, Avinadav is a writer, and has become a social activist, out of a general anti-nationalist ideology. He was engaged in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

References

External links

*
Thoughts of a National Liberal: an interview with Benny Begin - Fathom Journal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Begin, Benny 1943 births Living people Children of prime ministers of Israel Colorado State University alumni Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Herut – The National Movement politicians Israeli geologists Israeli Jews Jewish Israeli politicians Jews in Mandatory Palestine Leaders of political parties in Israel Likud politicians Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Members of the 13th Knesset (1992–1996) Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999) Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019) Members of the 24th Knesset (2021–2022) New Hope (Israel) politicians Politicians from Jerusalem