Mordechai Bar-On - Moshe Dayan: Israels Controversial Hero

MOSHE DAYAN

Israels Controversial Hero

MORDECHAI BAR-ON

Copyright 2012 by Mordechai Bar-On.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bar-On, Mordechai, 1928
Moshe Dayan : Israels controversial hero / Mordechai Bar-On. 1st ed.
p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-300-14941-8 (alk. paper)
1. Dayan, Mosheh, 19311979. 2. GeneralsIsraelBiography. 3. Statesmen
IsraelBiography. 4. Arab-Israeli conflictBiography. I. Title.
DS126.6.D3B37 2012
956.9405092dc23
[B]
2012000595

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992
(Permanence of Paper).

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Frontispiece: Moshe Dayan as minister of agriculture participating in a
ceremonial planting of trees. Courtesy Yad Ben-Zvi, Jerusalem.

THE STORY OF MOSHE DAYAN is the story of the State of Israel.

His life is best understood within the context of four crucial periods during which Israel evolved from an aspiration to an accomplishment. Under the British Mandate of Palestine (192248), Dayan worked in Nahalal, a cooperative agricultural village, contributing to the Zionist efforts to establish a productive Jewish community in Palestine comprised of immigrants from around the globe. During these years, while Jews were establishing communities and building infrastructure, opposition from Arabs who feared that the Zionist enterprise threatened their national existence grew. From an early age, Dayan actively battled this opposition and proved himself a fearless fighter. In 1948, the State of Israel was born in a war against the Arabs of Palestine and surrounding states. At the wars conclusion, Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan. Dayan was appointed commander of the Jewish-controlled section of Jerusalem.

During the second pivotal period, from 1948 through 1967, the State of Israel created the economic and communal infrastructure necessary to absorb millions of Jewish immigrants, mainly from Europe and the Arab world. Dayan held key government and security positions throughout these formative years. The Arab states, unwilling to accept their defeat in 1948, constantly threatened war. Dayan, as chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), commanded military missions that foiled the Arabs attempts to weaken or destroy Israel. On the eve of the Six Day War in 1967, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol appointed Dayan minister of defense, and he led Israel to a sweeping victory over the armies of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The war ended with Israels conquest of land that amounted to several times the countrys original size, including the Sinai Peninsula, Jordanian territory west of the Jordan River, and the Golan Heights.

From 1967 to 1974, as minister of defense, Dayan was in charge of protecting the new borders and governing the many Palestinians within them. He tried to frustrate guerrilla strikes by Egyptian, Syrian, and Palestinian forces while facilitating prosperity for the Palestinian people in the territories under Israeli rule. He failed in both attempts. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), founded in 1964 to advocate for an armed struggle to liberate Palestine, grew, and many quickly recognized it as the representative body of Palestinian national aspirations. During these violent years, the Yom Kippur War erupted in 1973; despite dramatic operations by Israeli forces, the war ended with Egypt dislodging the IDF from the banks of the Suez Canal. Among the many casualties of that war, Golda Meirs government dissolved and Dayans career as defense minister ended.

Dayan devoted the last years of his life to forging a peace agreement with Egypt, the largest and most important Arab state. As Israels foreign minister, he played a major role in its accomplishment. His conception of solving the conflict with the Palestinians, however, remained unchanged: he believed that Israel should accord the Palestinians broad autonomy but retain control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, thus denying them self-determination there. To his dying day, he opposed recognizing national rights for Palestinians, and in this respect he reached the end of his life disappointed and frustrated.

Moshe Dayan is etched in Israels national memory as the man who reconstructed the Israel Defense Forces in the 1950s and honed it into an efficient fighting unit. He led the IDF to victory in the 1956 Sinai campaign and helped guide the armys stunning successes in the Six Day War. But he is also widely remembered as the minister who shirked responsibility for the fiasco of the Yom Kippur War, a claim that continues to trail him, tainting even the memory of his central role in Israels peace treaty with Egypt.

Despite common perceptions, Dayan was not the sabra par excellence, but a complex personality with an inquisitive mind, a man who sought solitude and reflection in order to conceive practical solutions to intricate problems. His Achilles heel was his insensitivity to historical undercurrents and his inability to see the larger picture, shortcomings that ultimately led to his political and military decline.

Moshe Dayans life story has attracted many biographers. In addition to his two autobiographies, his parents; his first wife, Ruth; his daughter, Yal; his secretary Neora Matalon-Barnoach; and others who worked at his side all illuminated chapters of his life. The historian Shabtai Teveth wrote an excellent biography (published in 1971), but it covers Dayans life only up to the beginning of his tenure as minister of defense after the end of the Six Day War.

For this book, I made ample use of Teveths well-researched study; I have also taken advantage of the thousands of documents available on Dayan, especially those archived by the IDF, the State of Israel, and the press, which gave him broad coverage. Having served as his bureau chief in the Sinai campaign in 195657, I, like so many, was captivated by his charm and, like only a few, was privileged to know him personally. I spent many hours in his company, followed him into battle, and attended all his meetings with Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. I also acted as the secretary of the top-secret meetings held in Paris in preparation for the Suez War and wrote the only existing records of them. In the 1970s, however, our political paths diverged, and both my fascination with and my criticism of Dayans course after the Six Day War find expression in this book.

MANY PEOPLE HELPED in the preparation of this book, and I am grateful to them all: Professor Moti Golani read the manuscript and made valuable comments. Aaron Kaplo-witzs editorial insight was much appreciated. Simcha Nir and my wife, Erela, helped edit it. Yael Dinovitch, secretary of the Ben-Zvi Institute, patiently helped me unravel the mysteries of the Internet. Evelyn Abel helped with the English. I especially thank Neora Matalon-Barnoach, who placed at my disposal the pre-publication manuscript of her book