Subjects: Italy

Gideon Lev-Ari interviews Menahem Begin

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An interview Begin gave to Israeli reporter Gideon Lev-Ari during the American “reassessment” of 1975. Begin notes the change in the Arab world’s stated demands from the total destruction of Israel to a withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines, but says that the Arab goal of destroying Israel has not changed, only the rhetoric. Begin says there must be a full end to hostilities, followed by direct peace negotiations. Then Israel must give the ‘Arabs of Eretz Israel’ (Begin’s term for the Arabs known as Palestinians living in the West Bank/Judea and Samaria) full cultural autonomy and the option of Israeli citizenship but not national autonomy. The Israel-US relationship will continue to survive disagreements between the two countries. Israel must learn from the Munich agreement not to give in when it is threatened by its enemies and pressured to give in by its friends. In the end, peace will come

Begin on the Justice of Zionism

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A speech Begin gave in America in 1972. The world wants to forget, but Israel and the Jews will not forget how the Arab armies massed on Israel’s borders with the declared intention of destroying the Jewish State. Thankfully Israel was wise enough to launch a preemptive strike and come out of the war with relatively few casualties and more territory. There are those who say Israel should give back virtually all of the land, but doing so would put Israel’s population centers in the range of the rockets and artillery of the enemy. The PLO and similar organizations attempt to carry out a genocide of Jews, as evidenced by their attacks on civilians and by their own statements. But Jews should never be afraid any more. Israel spends nearly a third of its GNP on defense, and so needs the aid of American Jewry. With their help, Israel and world Jewry will be preserved for eternity.

Ben Gurion’s Tragedy

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Begin criticizes the government, specifically Ben-Gurion and Moshe Sharet, for being a “government that does not know what to do, nor how to express itself” at a time in which an anti-Israel agenda has been existing in many countries including Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Italy, and the Soviet Union. He attacks Ben Gurion for his threat to the British by uttering the words “destruction of Israel” while he is the “man responsible for their security.”