Word: premier
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...shown in the past that he is capable of surprises. In 1971, which he boldly and perhaps foolishly declared would be a "year of decision" for the Middle East, he offered to search for a peace settlement with Israel?a proposal that the Jerusalem government of Premier Golda Meir turned aside. The following year he abruptly evicted Soviet military advisers and experts from Egypt in a gesture toward the West that Washington failed to follow up. Then in October 1973 he caught Israel off guard with his Yom Kippur attack across the Suez. All these events, like his mission...
...ironies of the Middle East that Menachem Begin, 64, should emerge as Sadat's partner in the new quest for peace. Few would have dared predict this role for Begin last spring, when he became Israel's seventh Premier after his unexpected victory in a national election. His long-established image as an intransigent, superhawkish ultra-Zionist sent waves of concern, and even fear, throughout much of the world. The Arab press, led by Cairo, bitterly denounced him as a dangerous annexationist dreaming of a Greater Israel. Even Jimmy Carter hinted that he was concerned that Begin...
...Cairo's peace initiatives so far indicates that the answer well may be yes. Begin should have no trouble taking forthright moves for he is bolstered by his enormous self-confidence. His countrymen appreciate this. According to a popular apocryphal story currently making the rounds in Israel, the Premier's wife Aliza ruins an omelet that she is preparing in the kitchen. In frustration she cries out: "Oh God!" Answers Menachem from the next room: "Never mind, Aliza. I only told you to call me that in public...
Begin probably has a firmer hold on Israel than any leader since his old antagonist, David Ben-Gurion, and it is this very strength that helped make Sadat's peace initiative possible. A close Begin aide confides: "The Premier believes that Jewish history [in Israeli stopped in 1963 when Ben-Gurion retired and only started again this year with his election to the premiership." With the backing of the 15 Deputies from Yigael Yadin's Democratic Movement for Change, who joined the government in October, Begin's ruling coalition now commands a healthy 78 votes...
...Ismailia summit. Like Sadat, Begin has a strong sense of the theatrical, and his distinctive style is one of his major assets. To the public, his famed Old World courtliness seems to be a refreshing contrast to the casual, open-shirt informality of the Labor governments. The Premier is rarely seen in public without a jacket and tie, usually bows to the Israeli flag (no other Premier did this) and is scrupulously polite to his staff. His predecessor, Yitzhak Rabin, was introverted, often seemed indecisive and headed a quarrelsome government tarred by corruption charges. Begin is an enthusiast, transparently honest...