Nineteen years ago Menachem Begin defeated Shimon Peres, becoming Israel’s first Likud prime minister. One of Begin’s first official acts was to travel to Elon Moreh, a rough Israeli settlement perched on a hilltop outside Nablus. There, among the faithful, Begin proclaimed victory on behalf of the proponents of Greater Israel.

“There will be many more Elon Morehs,” he thundered. “This is liberated Israeli land, and we call on young volunteers in the country and the diaspora to come and settle here.” Today Greater Israel is dead, defeated by the intifada and buried by the Oslo agreements. Begin’s heir, Benyamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, acknowledges that the Likud dream of Greater Israel is beyond his grasp.