MENACHEM BEGIN NUMBER ONE

Israelis laud Begin
Menachem Begin is the most popular leader in Israel’s history by a hair, a poll found.

According to the Channel Two television survey published Tuesday, 32.8 percent of Israelis consider Begin the greatest prime minister that the country has ever had, with David Ben-Gurion coming in a close second at 32 percent. Just 7 percent of respondents voted for Ariel Sharon, compared to 14 percent for the late Yitzhak Rabin.

Despite two terms as premier, Shimon Peres enjoyed only 3 percent of the vote, but narrowly beat Benjamin Netanyahu’s 2 percent. The poll was taken as a run-up to the launch of a new Channel Two reality show, “Leader Sought.”