BEGIN, ZE'EV BINYAMIN

(1943- )

   Born in Jerusalem, he is the son of former Prime Minister Menachem Begin. He earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the Hebrew University of Jersusalem and his Ph.D. in geology from the University of Colorado and in 1965 began working for the Israel Geological Survey prior to entering politics. A member of the Knesset representing Likud since 1988, he was a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and its Subcommittee on National Defense Policy, and he was a member of the Knesset Committee on Constitution, Law, and Justice. He was appointed minister of science in 1996 but resigned in January 1997 to protest the Hebron agreement. On 28 December 1998, Begin formally quit the Likud and announced the formation of the New Herut (Herut Hahadasha) Party, with himself as its leader and candidate for prime minister. This party subsequently joined with Moledet and Tekuma to form the right-wing National Union (NU) Party, with Begin as its leader and prime ministerial candidate. On the eve of the 17 May 1999 elections, Begin withdrew from the race for prime minister. He retired from political life when his National Union won only four seats in the 15th Knesset, calling himself a "cantor without a congregation."