What Does the Jewish People Now Need?—1977-1981

As Professor Gordis discusses in this lecture, Menachem Begin always focused on embodying Jewish values and doing what the Jewish people needed most. Three key decisions during his time as prime minister highlight those qualities: taking in Vietnamese refugees, making peace with Egypt, and destroying the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq. In these actions, Begin was inspired by his conviction that the State of Israel was a continuation of the biblical story as it was revealed in the biblical text and Jewish tradition.