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Warrior Statesman: Life of Moshe Dayan
Profiles Dayan's early years on Palestine's first Kibbutz, creation of the Israeli Defense Force, and role in the Camp David negotiations
480 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1991
About the author
Robert Slater
89 books12 followersRobert Slater was an American author and journalist known for over two dozen books, including biographies of political and business figures such as Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, George Soros, and Donald Trump.
Slater was born in Manhattan and grew up in South Orange, New Jersey. He graduated from Columbia High School in 1962 and graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966, with a degree in political science. In 1967 he received a master's degree in international relations from the London School of Economics. He worked for United Press International (UPI) from 1969 to 1971 before moving to Jerusalem, where he worked for UPI until 1974; and for Time magazine in Jerusalem from 1976 to 1996. From 1987 and 1990 he was chairman of the Foreign Press Association in Israel. In his later years he was a columnist for The Jerusalem Report, and mentored young journalists at The Jerusalem Post. He lived for much of his life in Israel, and with his wife, Elinor, co-authored the books Great Jewish Women and Great Jewish Men.
Slater was born in Manhattan and grew up in South Orange, New Jersey. He graduated from Columbia High School in 1962 and graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966, with a degree in political science. In 1967 he received a master's degree in international relations from the London School of Economics. He worked for United Press International (UPI) from 1969 to 1971 before moving to Jerusalem, where he worked for UPI until 1974; and for Time magazine in Jerusalem from 1976 to 1996. From 1987 and 1990 he was chairman of the Foreign Press Association in Israel. In his later years he was a columnist for The Jerusalem Report, and mentored young journalists at The Jerusalem Post. He lived for much of his life in Israel, and with his wife, Elinor, co-authored the books Great Jewish Women and Great Jewish Men.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
November 21, 2021
Moshe Dayan was one of Israel's greatest millitary heroes and political leaders.
He commanded the Israeli forces that won the Suez War of 1956, and directed the Israeli victory in the Six Day War forced on Israel by Arab nations in 1967.
Dayan served as the Israel Army Chief of Staff from 1953 to 1958, Minister of Agriculture from 1959 to 1964, and Minister of Defence from 1967 to 1974.
He was blamed, and reviled, by many Israelis for Israel's disastrous lack of preparation before being attacked by Arab armies in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
He served as Foreign Minister for the Likud-led government from 1977-1979, and was a key negotiator of the Camp David peace accords with Egypt in 1978.
In 1939 the British who ruled Palestine imprisoned Dayan for his work with the Haganah, the Jewish liberation movement. He was released in 1941 to fight with the British against the Vichy French in Syria, where he was wounded in a battle and lost his left eye.
This book by Slater refers to Dayan's boyhood and the plight of the Jewish Yishuv in Palestine which was threatened by the Vichy French and the Germans in Egypt, and the details of Dayan's imprisonment by the British, his role in World War II, and Israel's 1948 War of Independence, as well as Dayan's role as a negotiator with the UN and the Arabs after the war, including his trip disguised as an Arab to Amman to meet King Abdullah.
Anecdotes include the comment by an English boy who saw Dayan at Ezer Weizmann's residence: "Look at him. The real Captain Cook."
Covered are his heroic roles in Israel's numerous wars of defence, as well as his love affairs and dismal failure as a father and husband.
Dayan was likened to General Wavell, the commander of British Army forces in the Middle East during World War II; Lawrence of Arabia; Admiral Horatio Nelson; and Biblical heroes Joshuah, Gideon, Jonathan and King David.
Where Slater is off the rails here is his insistence that Israeli control over Judea, Samaria and Gaza constituted 'occupation' and 'oppression'.
Israel seized these territories in a war forced upon her, and needed these territories to survive.
Furthermore according to the Balfour Declaration of 1917, and the 1922 League of Nations Mandate, these belonged to the Jewish State.
They were the ancient heartland of the Jewish homeland for millenia.
Slater's left leanings colour the biography and while he does relate how Dayan ordered Israeli flags pulled down from liberated territories in the Six Day War, he does not relate how Dayan actually handed the keys over to the Moslem Waqf, hours after capturing the Temple Mount, thus setting the stage for the Arab control over that landmark.
He commanded the Israeli forces that won the Suez War of 1956, and directed the Israeli victory in the Six Day War forced on Israel by Arab nations in 1967.
Dayan served as the Israel Army Chief of Staff from 1953 to 1958, Minister of Agriculture from 1959 to 1964, and Minister of Defence from 1967 to 1974.
He was blamed, and reviled, by many Israelis for Israel's disastrous lack of preparation before being attacked by Arab armies in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
He served as Foreign Minister for the Likud-led government from 1977-1979, and was a key negotiator of the Camp David peace accords with Egypt in 1978.
In 1939 the British who ruled Palestine imprisoned Dayan for his work with the Haganah, the Jewish liberation movement. He was released in 1941 to fight with the British against the Vichy French in Syria, where he was wounded in a battle and lost his left eye.
This book by Slater refers to Dayan's boyhood and the plight of the Jewish Yishuv in Palestine which was threatened by the Vichy French and the Germans in Egypt, and the details of Dayan's imprisonment by the British, his role in World War II, and Israel's 1948 War of Independence, as well as Dayan's role as a negotiator with the UN and the Arabs after the war, including his trip disguised as an Arab to Amman to meet King Abdullah.
Anecdotes include the comment by an English boy who saw Dayan at Ezer Weizmann's residence: "Look at him. The real Captain Cook."
Covered are his heroic roles in Israel's numerous wars of defence, as well as his love affairs and dismal failure as a father and husband.
Dayan was likened to General Wavell, the commander of British Army forces in the Middle East during World War II; Lawrence of Arabia; Admiral Horatio Nelson; and Biblical heroes Joshuah, Gideon, Jonathan and King David.
Where Slater is off the rails here is his insistence that Israeli control over Judea, Samaria and Gaza constituted 'occupation' and 'oppression'.
Israel seized these territories in a war forced upon her, and needed these territories to survive.
Furthermore according to the Balfour Declaration of 1917, and the 1922 League of Nations Mandate, these belonged to the Jewish State.
They were the ancient heartland of the Jewish homeland for millenia.
Slater's left leanings colour the biography and while he does relate how Dayan ordered Israeli flags pulled down from liberated territories in the Six Day War, he does not relate how Dayan actually handed the keys over to the Moslem Waqf, hours after capturing the Temple Mount, thus setting the stage for the Arab control over that landmark.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review