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Ze'ev Binyamin (Benny) BeginPolitician and geologist. Born in Jerusalem in 1943, the son of Menachem Begin. He served in the IDF from 1960-63 in the Armored Corps, and volunteered for service in 1975-76. He earned his BA and MA in geology at the Hebrew University, and received his doctorate from the University of Colorado in 1978. In the years 1965-88 he worked for the Geological Survey of Israel as head of the division for environmental geology and hydrology, and head of the division for mapping, marine geology and the computer center. He was also coordinator of studies on the placement of the nuclear power station in Israel. Since 1989 Begin has headed the Research Institute of the College of Judea and Samaria. Begin has served since 1988 as an MK in the Likud, where he was considered one of the party's natural heirs or "princes." He gained the reputation of a modest MK who was not willing to compromise his principles. He participated in the primaries for the Likud leadership on March 25, 1993 and gained only 15.1% of the votes. Begin objected to the establishment of the Likud-Gesher-Tsomet bloc before the elections to the 14th Knesset in 1996. After the elections he was appointed minister of science in the government formed by Binyamin Netanyahu in June 1996. Despite his membership in the cabinet, he was highly critical of Netanyahu's meetings with the Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and of the Hebron Agreement of January 1997. Begin made great efforts to prove that the Palestinians were not fulfilling their undertakings under the various Oslo agreements, and especially that they had not canceled the offensive articles in the Palestinian National Charter. In addition Begin has maintained that the Palestinian leadership had an ongoing strategic alliance with Hamas. After voting twice in the cabinet in the course of one week against a resolution for the appointment of Ronnie Bar-On as attorney-general (January 10, 1997) and the Hebron Agreement (January 15), he resigned from the government. In the Knesset he voted against the Wye River Memorandum. On December 28, 1998, Begin left the Likud and announced his candidacy for prime minister, hoping to unite all of the Greater Land of Israel Front behind him. Begin then founded the New Herut party and is running in the elections to the 15th Knesset at the head of the National Union list.
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