Menachem Begin

Menachem Begin
State Medal, 1992

Begin was born in Brisk, Lithuania (then part of Poland) on August 16, 1913. In the Betar youth movement, he met and was deeply impressed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, founder of the Jewish Legion in World War I and organizer of the Haganah defense to protect Jerusalem's Jews. Begin studied law at the University of Warsaw. At the outbreak of World War II, he worked feverishly to save Jews, was imprisoned by the Russians and was sentenced to eight years in Siberia. Freed after the Nazi invasion, he served in the Free Polish Army and thus arrived in Israel in 1942. He became head of the Etzel resistance in 1943, founded the Herut, Gahal and Mahal parties, and was elected Prime Minister in 1977. He died on March 9, 1992.

Obverse: Portrait of Menachem Begin. Along the circumference is the caption "Commander of the Irgun Zvai Leumi, Prime Minister of the Government of Israel". To the right of the portrait is the sentence 'After my death I hope that I will be remembered, above all, as the person who prevented a civil war", and his signature in Hebrew and English. The dates 5673-5752.

Reverse: Star of David and dove emerging from the left side of the star, breaking a steel chain. To the left of the star is the Hebrew inscription "freedom fighters hate war" and the name Menachem Begin in Hebrew. In English, the words "PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL.COMMANDER OF THE IRGUN.1913-1992".

Edge: State emblem with the words "STATE OF ISRAEL" in Hebrew on the right and in English on the left and serial number. Bronze/tombac medal - "BRONZE" in Hebrew and English; Silver medal - "S 999.9" in Hebrew and English; gold medal - "G-916.6" in Hebrew and English.

Serialization: Bronze/tombac - 3,109 numbered; 5 melted. Silver -1,678 numbered; 30 melted. Gold - 1,172 numbered; 25 melted.

Designer: Obverse - Ronit Salomon and Sharon Berman. Reverse - Oswald Adler

Engraving: Tidhar Dagan.

Mint: Bronze/tombac - Kretschmer. Silver - Hecht. Gold - The Government Mint.