ABSTRACT
The battle of inheritance between the representative of the veterans (Yitzhak Shamir) and the representative of the middle generation (David Levy) marked the youngsters’ first foray into the jostling and elbowing among the more seasoned members. Unlike Begin, who had avoided placing sons and daughters of veteran fighters in the Knesset or the government, Shamir developed a real dependence on the youngsters who served as MKs during his tenure. Shamir's battle for political survival was in fact a war of survival of his generation. In the eyes of Levy's supporters, Shamir was an old, grey, exilic, establishment politician, made in the mold of the hated Labor leaders. In the 1960s, while Begin had fired up the masses in town squares, Shamir had been out of the country, serving in the Mossad. Levy had accumulated considerable influence in the Likud.
