Moshe Dayan (1969) By N.Lau-Lavie
 
Perhaps Dayan's attractively ruthless facade allows no penetration. In any event, Lau-Lavie, an Israeli journalist, confines himself to a public portrait, and so intricately has Dayan's life been linked with his country's development that the book serves also as a military-political history of Israel's last thirty years. Starting with Dayan's enlistment in the Haganah, Lau-Lavie's account becomes an interpretation of major confrontations first with the British, then with the Arabs, then with Israeli rivals. In 1948, Ben-Gurion (Dayan has always been his protege) appointed him commander of Jerusalem, a post which forced him to learn diplomacy. Later, as chief of staff, Dayan conducted negotiations with allies--the French and the British as well as the UN observers. Despite his well-known "individuality", he has been a successful diplomat. The general's strategy in the two lighting wars against the Arabs is explained on a purely external level. Mr. Lau-Lavie ends with Dayan's current role as a political radical and potential heir of Ben-Gurion. The book is best read as a biography of Israel--it is competent, pleasant, and partisan in tone.
 
Hard Cover with Dust Cover
223 Pages
In Fair Condition- Damage in Spine