• Junior Knesset Program

  • Junior Knesset Program

  • Junior Knesset Program

  • Jerusalem, the fitting location of the Menachem Begin Centre

  • Ms. Vered Rosenstein receives a scholarship in honour of Dr. Israel Asper from Herzl Makov, President and CEO of the Begin Center and Adv.

  • The Menachem Begin Heritage Centre

  • Menachem Begin

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“Prime Minister Begin’s most outstanding life achievement was the signing of the Peace Treaty with Egypt. It proved that Israel was willing and able, as difficult as it was, to withdraw from land that it had acquired through defensive measures. It also demonstrated that Israel supported the establishment of Palestinian autonomy in exchange for peace. The Menachem Begin Heritage Center will celebrate the vision of a man who was courageous to know the importance and meaning of sacrifice.”

“We are honoured that The Asper Foundation is making this important contribution to help ensure the legacy of Menachem Begin lives on in perpetuity. Whether as a gifted and charismatic orator, head of Betar in Poland, organizer of protests against the British blockade in Palestine, commander of the Irgun Tzeva’i Le’umi, founder of the Herut Movement in Israel, parliamentarian, Israel’s sixth Prime Minister from 1977-1983, fighter of the scourge of Arab terrorism, leader of a national campaign for the right of Soviet Jews’ repatriation in Israel, leader of the evacuation of the Ethiopian Jewish community or having the courage to achieve a peace agreement with Egypt and receiving the Nobel Peace Prize with President Anwar Sadat, Prime Minister Menachem Begin serves as a beacon of inspiration not only to Jews but to all those who strive for excellence and yearn for peace.”

“The heritage centre will be a fitting tribute to Menachem Begin who dedicated his life to peace and the Jewish people.”

Menachem Begin Heritage Foundation

In 2002, The Asper Foundation contributed $1 million to the capital campaign and Graduate Student Scholarship Program of the Menachem Begin Heritage Centre in Jerusalem. The Centre perpetuates the thoughts, deeds and achievements of Prime Minister Menachem Begin, representing a major part of the Jewish experience of the 20th century. The 65,000 square foot four-story complex houses the Begin Archives and Library, the Begin Museum, the Begin Research Institute, lecture halls and video screening rooms.

The Begin Archives and Library houses documents, letters, speeches, videotapes, conference minutes, interviews and audiotapes related to Prime Minister Begin’s life. The Begin Museum employs cutting-edge technology to portray every facet of Begin’s life, work and accomplishments. A special section is devoted to the life of his wife Aliza Begin.

The Begin Research Institute is a dynamic place where scholars study, record and publish topics such as Striving for Freedom, Peace and International Understanding, Project Renewal: Impacting Socio-Economic Change, The Ethics of Governance and Begin’s View of Judaism. The lecture halls and video screening rooms are a meeting place for visiting groups, especially soldiers, students and schoolchildren.

Junior Knesset Program

The Asper Foundation contributes $25,000 annually to the Junior Knesset (legislature) program, a civics educational program formulated and developed by the Menachem Begin Heritage Centre on the initiative of Ann Kirson Swersky. The program seeks to teach middle school students (grades 7-9) about democratic parliamentary activity in Israel and explain to them in a simulation environment how the Knesset works in Israel. The project emphasizes the theme of parliamentary democracy in Israel and proper public discourse.

Junior Knesset program students gain insight into the reality of coalition politics, cooperation between Members of the Knesset, consensus-building and representative democracy at work. The teachers’ guide includes sections dealing with debates on dilemmas related to the topic being learned in class. The instruction is less frontal and mainly involves the pupils in simulated situations comparable to the actual parliamentary activity. Classroom discussions are followed by a five-hour Model Knesset session in which the students role-play at being legislators.

Eye to Zion

With the support of The Asper Foundation, the Begin Centre developed a 30-hour instructional program on Zionism that is offered as an elective course for high schools via the Israeli Ministry of Education.

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