Editing Menachem Begin (section)

===Socioeconomic policies===
[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Menahem Begin with Ariel Sharon.jpg|thumb|Prime Minister Menahem Begin (left) meets with Agriculture Minister [[Ariel Sharon]] at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem. August 1977]]
As Prime Minister, Begin presided over various reforms in the domestic field. Tuition fees for secondary education were eliminated and compulsory education was extended to the tenth grade,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ewXm2afBe0AC&pg=PA60 Policy Implementation of Social Welfare in the 1980s] By Frederick A. Lazin. Google Books.</ref> while new social programmes were introduced such as long-term care insurance<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/ssptw/2010-2011/asia/israel.html|title=Social Security Programs Throughout the World: Asia and the Pacific, 2010 - Israel|website=www.ssa.gov|access-date=14 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809204159/https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/ssptw/2010-2011/asia/israel.html|archive-date=9 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and a national income support system.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=aHTZxre-2MMC&pg=PA173 Public Policy in Israel] By David Nachmias and Gila Menachem. Google Books.</ref> A [[Television in Israel|ban on color television]] that had been imposed to enforce social equality was abolished, and the minimum age for a driver's license was lowered to 17.<ref name=benn/>

Begin's economic policies sought to liberalize Israel's [[socialism|socialist]] economy towards a more free-market approach, and he appointed [[Simha Erlich]] as Finance Minister. Erlich unveiled a new economic policy that became known as the "economic transformation". Under the new plan, the exchange rate would from then on be determined by market forces rather than the government, subsidies for many consumer products were cancelled, [[foreign exchange controls]] were eased, the [[Value added tax|VAT]] tax was raised while the travel tax was cancelled, and customs duties were lowered to encourage imports of more products. The plan generated some improvement; cheap and high-quality imported products began to fill consumer shelves, the business sector benefited greatly, and the stock market recorded rising share prices. However, the program did not improve the lives of the Israeli people as Begin had hoped. The combination of the increased VAT, the end of subsidies, and a rise in the U.S. dollar exchange rate set off a wave of inflation and price increases. In particular, the fact that government spending was not significantly reduced in tandem with the liberalization program triggered a massive bout of inflation. On 17 July 1978, the Israeli cabinet met to discuss rising inflation, but Begin, declaring that "you cannot manage economics over the housewife's back", halted all proposals. In the end, the government decided not to take any actions and allow inflation to ride its course. Begin and his other ministers did not internalize the full meaning of the liberalization plan. As a result, he blocked attempts by Erlich to lower government spending and government plans to privatize public-sector enterprises out of fear of harming the weaker sectors of society, allowing the privatization of only eighteen government companies during his six-year tenure.<ref name=benn>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/misc/iphone-article/for-better-or-worse-begin-s-legacy-is-embedded-in-israel-s-economy.premium-1.526153|title=Article Iphone View Element|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref><ref>Shilon, Avi: ''Menachem Begin: A Life''</ref> In 1983, shortly before Begin's resignation, a major [[1983 Israel bank stock crisis|financial crisis]] hit Israel after the stocks of the country's four largest banks collapsed and were subsequently nationalized by the state. Inflation would continue rapidly rising past Begin's tenure, and was only brought under control after the [[1985 Israel Economic Stabilization Plan]], which among other things greatly curbed government spending, was introduced. The years of rampant inflation devastated the economic power of the powerful [[Histadrut]] labor federation and the [[kibbutz]]im, which would help Israel's approach towards a free-market economy.<ref name=benn/>

Begin's government has been credited with starting a trend that would move Israel towards a capitalist economy that would see the rise of a consumer culture and a pursuit of wealth and higher living standards, replacing a culture that scorned capitalism and valued social, as well as government restrictions to enforce equality.<ref name=benn/>

In terms of social justice, however, the legacy of the Begin Government was arguably a questionable one. In 1980, the state Social Security Institute estimated that from 1977 to 1980 the number of babies born in poverty doubled, while there had been a 300% increase in the number of families with four to five children below the poverty line. Additionally, the number of families with more than five children below the poverty line went up by 400,% while child poverty estimates suggested that from 1977 to 1981 the number of children living below the poverty line had risen from 3.8% to 8.4%,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=nGNMBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA241 Discord in Zion: Conflict Between Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews in Israel] G. N. Giladi, 1990. Google Books.</ref> while officials at the National Institute of Insurance estimated that the incidence of poverty had doubled during Begin's five years in office.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ad_zCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5|title=Data and Policy Change: The Fragility of Data in the Policy Context|first=David|last=Dery|date=11 November 2013|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-94-009-2187-0|via=Google Books}}</ref>