Begin’s Chief Aide Collapses, Dies

Matityahu Shmuelevitz, a close aide to the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin, died Sunday after collapsing during a chess game with a comrade from a pre-state underground militia. He was 75.

The Polish-born Shmuelevitz immigrated to Israel in 1938 and joined the Jewish Lehi militia. He was imprisoned by the British in 1940, escaped in 1943 and was wounded and recaptured in 1944. He was sentenced to death for firing at a British officer.

His sentence was commuted to life, but he escaped from jail in February 1948. From 1980 to 1983, Shmuelevitz served as Begin’s chief aide.