By Andrey Smirnov
The monument marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Menachem Begin, an outstanding politician and statesman; the seventh Prime Minister of Israel was a native of the city over the River Bug. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Foreign Ministry of Belarus, Jewish organisations, Israeli diplomats and sponsors.
Herzl Makov, the Director of the Menachem Begin Heritage Centre arrived especially for the ceremony, while the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Israel to Belarus, H.E. Mr. Yosef Shagal, read a letter of greeting from the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Menachem Begin’s monument is the first of its kind in post-Soviet territory. Located in the historical centre of Brest, near to the school building in which Menachem Begin studied, the sculpture was designed by architect Leonid Levin, winner of the Lenin Prize of the USSR and Chairman of the Union of Belarusian Jewish Associations and Communities.
To mark the occasion further, first-day-of-issue stamps were presented and released under the theme National Leaders of the State of Israel — Natives of Belarus. Issued by the Ministry of Communications and Informatisation of Belarus, at the initiative of the Israeli Embassy, these are devoted to such outstanding Israeli politicians as Chaim Weizmann, Zalman Shazar, Yitzhak Shamir, Menachem Begin and Shimon Peres.
Menachem Begin was born on 16th August, 1913, in Brest-Litovsk. From June 1977 until September 1983 he was the Prime Minister of Israel and, in 1978, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. He died on 9th March, 1992, in Tel Aviv.
