I'm afraid I'd say Begin was always a terrorist, and so is Sharon. But the point is well taken - and there have been many Israeli leaders who did turn their back on terrorism, from Ben Gurion. But lets not get into arguing about that here. If anyone wants to talk about that, I suggest it'd be better to start another thread, or maybe revive on old one that isn't too long.

Demonising any group is futile. It's accidents of birth and upbringing that determine which side we find ourselves. We should focus our attention on trying to make our side behaving decently, rather than concentrating on the failings of the other side. And there's always a side we are on, even when we think we are detached from it. That's just another side, and sometimes it's the most important side in keeping a conflict going when you get down to it.