The keys to successful hasbara (public diplomacy) include a strong belief in the
justice of Israel’s cause, never being afraid to repeat the obvious and standing
firm over semantics – all of which were characteristic of Menachem Begin,
Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein said at an
event held in memory of the former prime minister.
Likud Anglos, an
organization serving Anglo members of the Likud Party, sponsored the memorial
Sunday evening at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem. Subsequent
memorials for Begin, who died on March 8, 1992, will be put together annually by
Likud Anglos close to his yartzeit.
The memorial began with a moment of
silence for the victims of the recent terror attacks in Jerusalem and Itamar,
and the latest rocket attacks in the South. In his opening address, Daniel
Tauber, an oleh from the US and chairman of the Jerusalem chapter of Likud
Anglos, said the organization will send a letter to all Likud members of
Knesset, urging them to take any actions necessary to prevent an escalation of
terrorism.
Tauber also recalled that Begin, after his September 1940
arrest by Soviet authorities in occupied Poland for his activities in the
Revisionist Zionist youth movement, Betar, was so particular about semantics
that he refused to sign a confession provided by his Soviet
interrogator.
In his memoir about his time in Soviet captivity, “White
Nights,” Begin wrote that he would not sign the confession, for which he might
have received a fair trial and freedom, because it began with the words “I admit
I am guilty of…” Begin objected to the word “guilty,” and asked that the wording
be changed to, “I admit that I was…” Edelstein, a Likud MK and former Prisoner
of Zion, said this incident shows how Begin was conscious of basic inner truths
– including the justice of the cause for which he was fighting – and as such,
cared deeply about words that described him and other Zionists.
For
example, in a clip played at the memorial from a conversation Begin had with
television interviewer David Frost, Begin strongly objected to Frost’s
description of Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, Gaza, and Jerusalem as
“provocative.”
Begin told Frost that during his youth in Poland, he asked
a group of Poles why they felt a need to beat up Jews, and they responded that
the very presence of Jews was a “provocation.” Therefore, said Begin, to assert
that the presence of Jews in certain areas is a “provocation” is anti-Semitic,
and the idea that Jews and Arabs should not live side-by-side in all parts of
the Land of Israel prevents true coexistence.
Begin also told Frost that
Jews were not foreigners in their own homeland and that Arab residents of the
territories would never be told to leave their homes to make room for new Jewish
communities.
Edelstein brought up the same point when asked about Jewish
settlements by a senior US State Department official in 1998. “I said, ‘You’re
saying there will never be peace,’” Edelstein recalled. “If your basic
assumption is that Jews and Arabs are like cats and dogs and the only solution
is to transfer Jews and Arabs in different directions, then there will be no
peace.”
Begin would want Israelis using language that comes from the
Tanach and refers to the rights of Jews in their homeland, he added. During a
meeting with then-South African President Thabo Mbeki and then-Minister of
Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Edelstein answered accusations of
“occupation” against Israel by saying, “I want to start with something – the
whole Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people. You said it’s important to
negotiate, but how can I compromise on something if you say it’s not mine?” As
for recent events in Egypt, Edelstein said that “as a European and a democrat,
[Begin] should have realized the danger of peace with a dictatorship.” While
Begin likely understood that a peace treaty with a dictatorship would be
fragile, Edelstein said he probably believed that it was still a better
alternative to another war.
“To be frank, I don’t know how to address
these problems in our area – no one in the world knows,” said
Edelstein.
Returning to the issue of semantics, Yisrael Medad, director
of information resources at the Begin Heritage Center, told attendees, “We don’t
have ‘settlements,’ we have ‘Jewish communities.’” He also objected to American
leaders’ description of those communities as “illegitimate” because, “It tells
the enemies of the Jews that you are an outlaw, and it allows Jewish blood to
become cheap. If you’re ‘illegitimate,’ it means people can kill
you.”
Begin believed former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was a true
partner for peace – despite disagreements that arose during negotiations – and
he felt he could agree to a withdrawal from Sinai because unlike Judea, Samaria,
Gaza and Jerusalem, Sinai was not included in the mandate the League of Nations
assigned to the British for a Jewish national home.
Medad also reminded
audience members that Begin supported Palestinian autonomy, but not
statehood.
Begin held out hope that a period of autonomy “would convince
them that they’re better off with us,” said Medad.