Israel's offspring
By Gil Hoffman

Menachem Begin (1913-1992)
Underground commander, parliamentarian and the sixth prime minister, Begin was born in Brest-Litovsk, Poland, in 1913. A passionate Zionist from an early age, he joined the Betar youth movement at the age of 16 and became head of Betar Poland in 1938.

Begin led the Irgun Zvai Leumi (IZL) in its battles against the British in Palestine. Under Begin's leadership the pace and the scope of IZL's challenges to British rule increased, and after World War II he ordered many of IZL's operations, including the Acre prison breakout and the bombing of the British administration's central offices at the King David Hotel.

As leader of the Herut party, Begin lost eight elections until he was elected prime minister in 1977. In November 1977, six months after Begin became prime minister, president Anwar Sadat of Egypt came to Jerusalem, which led to the Camp David Accords. Begin was awarded the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for the agreement.

Twice during Begin's tenure as prime minister, military actions were launched in response to Palestinian terrorist acts against Israeli citizens: the 1978 Operation Litani and the 1982 Operation Peace for Galilee.

Begin had three children and nine grandchildren
His oldest son, Ze'ev Binyamin (Benny) served in the Knesset from 1988 to 1999 and was science minister in the Netanyahu government but resigned following the signing of the Hebron Accords in 1997. He ran an unsuccessful campaign for prime minister in 1999.

A geologist by profession, Benny Begin now works at the Geological Institute in Jerusalem and has four daughters and two sons. One son, IDF pilot Maj. Yonatan Begin, was killed March 26 when his F-16 fighter jet went down off the coast of Atlit.

The former prime minister also has two daughters. Hassia is married to Mati Milo, the brother of Center Party MK Ronni Milo. They live in Tel Aviv and have three children. Lea is single and lives in Jerusalem.

David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973)
Theodor Herzl (1860-1904)
Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952)
Menachem Begin (1913-1992)
Rabbi Isaac Halevy Herzog (1888-1959)