In the season 4 finale, Dar Adal justifies his deal with Taliban leader Haissam Haqqani by referencing the 1946 bombing of the Jerusalem hotel by the Irgun.
- December 25, 2014
AceShowbiz -
"Homeland" has stirred a controversy by comparing former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to Taliban leader in the fourth season finale. In the December 21 outing titled "Long Time Coming", Saul (Mandy Patinkin) confronted CIA black ops specialist Dar Adal (F. Murray Abraham) for making a deal with wanted militant Haissam Haqqani (Numan Acar) and Dar explained his move by making a reference to the 1946 bombing of the Jerusalem hotel by the Irgun.
"Menachem Begin killed 91 British soldiers at the King David Hotel before becoming Prime Minister," Dar said in the scene. The right-wing Jewish underground group was under the command of Begin during the attack, which was launched to fight against British mandate in the country, before Israel's independence was proclaimed in 1948.
Herzl Makov, director of the Menachem Begin Center, slams the comparison. "It is slander against Menachem Begin and the state of Israel," he tells Israeli news website Ynet. "To say, 'Begin killed'? He wasn't even there. The underground resistance group was under his command, and he took responsibility. In addition, three warnings were given to the British to vacate and their commander refused."
Makov adds, "So there is a dramatic difference between the two cases compared. For me, it is like saying that [Begin and Haqqani] are both terrorists, just like saying they both wore brown shirts. It is surprising specifically because Homeland is based on the Israeli format 'Prisoners of War'."
Begin went on to become Israel's sixth Prime Minister in 1977 and was awarded with Nobel Prize for peace, along with Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, for the 1979 peace treaty with the Arab state of Egypt.
