Officials at Premier Menachem Begin’s office flatly rejected a report in the latest issue of Time magazine that Begin was recently checked-by three foreign medical experts who advised him not to work more than three hours a day.
Begin’s press advisors said Begin gets to work every morning around 8 a.m. and stays at the office until 1 P. M. when he goes home for lunch and an afternoon rest. He returns to the office around 4 p.m. and stays until the evening. In addition, he undertakes various appointments in the evening.
Dan Pattir, Begin’s press advisor, said that not only was Begin not checked by any foreign expert, but neither were similar checkups conducted by any Israeli doctor. Shlomo Nakdimon, another press advisor, charged that political elements were responsible for the publication of the story. He did not elaborate.
Prof. Jack Fein, who, according to Time magazine, checked Begin, denied the report in a telephone conversation with Maariv from New York. Fein said he had been in Israel several weeks ago on family matters, but there is no foundation to the story that he was asked to see Begin.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
