The Begin Governments (1977-1983)

In the elections to the Ninth Knesset held in May 1977, the Likud won and Menachem Begin became prime minister. The Likud's victory was called the "upheaval", as it was the first time in the history of Israel that the elected prime minister was not a representative of the workers' parties (Mapai and the Labor Party).

At the end of October 1977, the Minister of Finance, Simcha Erlich, announced the "economic Revolution" - a series of reforms in the spirit of the "free market" that included the abolition of foreign exchange controls, the abolition of taxes and other measures that increased consumption without a solid economic base, the Opposite of the Previous, Socialist governments. Following the failure of the reforms, Erlich was forced to resign as finance minister in 1979, and was replaced by Yigal Horowitz, who in his attempts to combat galloping inflation replaced the Israeli pound in 1980 with the (old) Israeli Shekel.

On November 19th, 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat arrived in Israel and became the first Arab leader to visit Israel. Israel and Egypt held peace talks that later led to the signing of the Camp David Accords in September 1978, and in 1979 to the signing of a peace agreement. [**Camp David Accords & Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty (1978-1979)]**

On March 11th, 1978, terrorists carried out the Coastal Road Massacere, also known as the "Bus of Blood," in which 35 people were killed. The attack led the Israeli government to decide to launch an IDF operation, named "Operation Litani", with the aim of damaging the infrastructure of Palestinian terrorist organizations that were based in southern Lebanon.

## **Peace Treaty with Egypt**

In 1979, the Prime Minister of Israel, Menachem Begin, and the President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, signed a peace agreement between the two countries, under which Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt and the Entrance of Rafah, evacuating dozens of settlements. It also agreed to give the Arabs of the Palestinian territories autonomy, in which there would be a strong independent police force. In 1978, Begin and Sadat won the Nobel Peace Prize.

About two years after the agreement was signed, on June 7th, 1981, during Operation Opera, the Israeli Air Force bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor Tammuz, near the city of Osirak, in order to prevent Iraq from producing nuclear weapons. Many attributed the timing of the attack to the elections to the Tenth Knesset, which took place about three weeks later, in which the Likud, led by Menachem, Begin won against the Alignment Party, led by Shimon Peres, by a narrow majority, after the Alignment led by a considerable margin in the polls. Today the prevailing opinion is that at the time of the attack these considerations were not considered.

## **First Lebanon War**

In June 1982, an assassination attempt was made on Israel's ambassador to Britain, Shlomo Argov. Following the assassination attempt and the growing concentration of Palestinian terrorists in southern Lebanon ("Fatahland"), Israel launched the First Lebanon war on June 6th, dubbed "Operation Peace for the Galilee", in order to protect northern settlements from terrorist attacks. At the beginning of the war, the IDF launched Operation Mole Cricket 19, in which it destroyed the Syrian army's air defense systems in Lebanon, and in the ensuing air battle, the Israeli Air Force shot down more than 80 Syrian aircraft and fighter jets without casualties. The IDF invaded Lebanon and even conquered part of Beirut, and succeeded in deposing the PLO to Tunis. In September, Christian Phalangists forces carried out the Sabra and Shatila Massacre. Israel was perceived as involved in the massacre, as the IDF controlled the area and the Phalangists entered the camps with its approval. A public outcry arose in Israel and the Cohen Commission was established. the IDF would be withdrawn in 1985 to an Area dubbed "the Security Belt", until it's Full Withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. The IDF lost about 670 soldiers during the First Lebanon War, and a total of about 1,216 soldiers between 1982 and 2000.

On August 28, 1983, Prime Minister Menachem Begin announced his intention to resign at a cabinet meeting. Begin resigned without giving reasons for his resignation. Some claim he resigned because of the high death toll in the Lebanon war. Others estimate that the resignation was due to his ongoing illness which prevented him from functioning.

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