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Moshe Dayan
“Rarely have people placed such profound trust in a single man”
But rarer still is how Moshe Dayan commanded the complete trust of the majority of Israelis.
Born in the first kibbutz in 1915, Moshe Dayan’s life was an unbroken chain of war and death his constant companion.
As a teenager, he joined the Haganah and within a decade, had met two of the three men he considered to have had the greatest influence on him - Yitzhak Sadeh and Orde Wingate.
Losing his left eye to a sniper in 1941, while the psychological wound never truly healed Dayan remained a force to be reckoned with.
Retiring as Chief of Staff in 1958, Dayan followed his father’s footsteps and entered the world of politics, becoming first Minister of Agriculture and then Defense, in 1959 and ’67 respectively.
In his lifetime, he became a symbol for the tiny country whose existence continues purely by its courage in a sea of enemies that forever threaten its destruction.
Brimming with personal insights, Shabtai Teveth’s 1972 biography is a remarkable portrait of a remarkable man before he became Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Shabtai Teveth (1925-2014) was an Israeli journalist and historian. During the 1967 war he was official war correspondent for the Israeli army. In 2005 he was awarded the state’s highest honour, the Israel Prize, for “lifetime achievement and special contribution to society and the State”. His other works include The Cursed Blessing and The Tanks of Tammuz.
But rarer still is how Moshe Dayan commanded the complete trust of the majority of Israelis.
Born in the first kibbutz in 1915, Moshe Dayan’s life was an unbroken chain of war and death his constant companion.
As a teenager, he joined the Haganah and within a decade, had met two of the three men he considered to have had the greatest influence on him - Yitzhak Sadeh and Orde Wingate.
Losing his left eye to a sniper in 1941, while the psychological wound never truly healed Dayan remained a force to be reckoned with.
Retiring as Chief of Staff in 1958, Dayan followed his father’s footsteps and entered the world of politics, becoming first Minister of Agriculture and then Defense, in 1959 and ’67 respectively.
In his lifetime, he became a symbol for the tiny country whose existence continues purely by its courage in a sea of enemies that forever threaten its destruction.
Brimming with personal insights, Shabtai Teveth’s 1972 biography is a remarkable portrait of a remarkable man before he became Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Shabtai Teveth (1925-2014) was an Israeli journalist and historian. During the 1967 war he was official war correspondent for the Israeli army. In 2005 he was awarded the state’s highest honour, the Israel Prize, for “lifetime achievement and special contribution to society and the State”. His other works include The Cursed Blessing and The Tanks of Tammuz.
524 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1973
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 12, 2017
Dated but still useful
Written before the Yom Kippur War, and too close to its' subject to be fully objective. Nonetheless still a good biography, just not as good or current as others.
Written before the Yom Kippur War, and too close to its' subject to be fully objective. Nonetheless still a good biography, just not as good or current as others.
March 3, 2019
The Solitary Man on the Half-Track
I found the story of Moshe Dyan as intriguing about the man as I found the early history of Israel. The story starts very early with the life of his family as early Israeli settlers. The stories that are described in the very humble beginnings of his family and their struggle to make a life in Israel form some of the most interesting reading in the book. After all, how can you separate the early story of Israeli settlement life from the man who was molded by this experience? It’s clear that this formative experience guided his treatment of the Arabs & Palestinians. He understood their ways, respected their traditions, and, he was one of the few Israeli's in the national government, and Army, that spoke Arabic and some of the local dialect.
He was a solitary man in his youth and later as a military man. He followed his path, but, in the end, he fought to preserve the essence of Israeli national defense. His personality was difficult, but, his determination was there. He was a reluctant politician, but he was a superb tank tactician.
The last third of the book gets weighted down with some heavy discussions of Israeli politics. This part was heavy going, I think, for any casual non-Israeli reader.
We have a story here of a great man, who gave his full measure to the defense of the country he loved. Moshe Dyan was a solitary man on the half-track. This is where Moshe Dyan belonged and his country benefited from his devotion.
I found the story of Moshe Dyan as intriguing about the man as I found the early history of Israel. The story starts very early with the life of his family as early Israeli settlers. The stories that are described in the very humble beginnings of his family and their struggle to make a life in Israel form some of the most interesting reading in the book. After all, how can you separate the early story of Israeli settlement life from the man who was molded by this experience? It’s clear that this formative experience guided his treatment of the Arabs & Palestinians. He understood their ways, respected their traditions, and, he was one of the few Israeli's in the national government, and Army, that spoke Arabic and some of the local dialect.
He was a solitary man in his youth and later as a military man. He followed his path, but, in the end, he fought to preserve the essence of Israeli national defense. His personality was difficult, but, his determination was there. He was a reluctant politician, but he was a superb tank tactician.
The last third of the book gets weighted down with some heavy discussions of Israeli politics. This part was heavy going, I think, for any casual non-Israeli reader.
We have a story here of a great man, who gave his full measure to the defense of the country he loved. Moshe Dyan was a solitary man on the half-track. This is where Moshe Dyan belonged and his country benefited from his devotion.
November 21, 2023
Israel is a special nation, rising from the ashes of WW2.
It's not hard to understand their success when they have men like Moshe.
It's not hard to understand their success when they have men like Moshe.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews