Brilliantly "Prophetic" Description of Menachem Begin by Doris Katz Lankin

When I began reading  The Lady Was A Terrorist, I had no idea that I'd find such a brilliant observation. I first read the book a half a century or so ago and chose to reread it now, since my book club's genre* for next week's meeting is "freedom/independence," and Katz's book is her memoir about her part in Israel's War for Independence.

The Lady Was A Terrorist by Doris Katz
"Begin's soft sub-stratum is his incurable sentimentality"

I'm one of those who consider Menachem Begin a failed leader because of his Camp David Accords. Many of us had thought of him as a strong nationalist leader, first of the Etzel, then Herut, Gahal and finally the Likud.

The State of Israel was established in 1948, and there was only a ceasefire with the opposing Arabs (backed by the British) the following year. Labor Zionist parties not only ruled the state until 1977, but also dominated during the decades before independence. 

In 1977 Likud's election victory was a total shockeroo, known as the UPHEAVAL. Most Israelis expected an immediately greenlight for increased settlement in Judea, Samaria and more. Some of us looked forward joyfully, while labor/left voters dreaded it. The reality was rather different. Begin's government didn't quickly and easily open the doors to establish new Jewish communities, but that wasn't the worst he did.

That weakness that Katz had noticed in the late 1940s made Begin susceptible the Camp David Accords, which required Israel to cross a long held red line. The Menachem Begin government destroyed all of the Jewish Israeli communities in northern Sinai. If the agreement had really been a peace agreement, then Jews should have been invited to remain, but Begin didn't insist, or even request it. Begin wanted to be liked by others, be considered moderate, not a "terrorist," not an extremist. Within a few years Menachem Begin "faded" as a leader and ended his years in isolation.

*Unlike most book clubs, the local Shiloh English Book Club does not require members to read the same book for each meeting. We found the logistics too difficult and stressful, which took the fun away from the meetings. Now we choose genres or an author, which gives more individual flexibility; plus we start with a potluck dinner. This isn't school; it's fun and social.