9/19/83

# MOSHE DAYAN MEMORIAL SPEECH
## SEPTEMBER 19, 1983
### HENRY A. KISSINGER

MOSHE DAYAN'S LIFE PARALLELLED THE HISTORY OF THE ISRAELI PEOPLE. AS A SOLDIER, WHO STROVE FOR SECURITY, AS A STATESMAN WHO YEARNED FOR PEACE AND AS A MAN OF CONVICTION WHO KNEW THAT THE STATE WHICH HAD BEEN A VISION COULD ULTIMATELY SURVIVE ONLY THROUGH FAITH. HE WAS A PRINCIPAL ACTOR IN EVERY KEY EVENT OF THE YOUNG STATE. HE WAS INVOLVED IN ALL OF ISRAEL'S WARS. HE PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN ALL ITS TRUCES AND CEASEFIRES. HE INSPIRED AND HELPED NEGOTIATE ITS PEACE TREATIES. HE PARTICIPATED IN THE SPLITS AND RECONCILIATIONS OF THE PARTIES WHICH MARK ISRAEL'S POLITICAL LIFE. AS MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, THAT RESTLESS MIND EVEN INTRODUCED THE FIRST MECHANICALLY HARVESTABLE TOMATOES. HE WAS A LEADER FOR LONGER THAN HIS ORIGINAL MENTOR, BEN GURION, OR HIS LATER PATRON AND FRIEND, GOLDA MEIR OR MENACHEM BEGIN THE LAST PRIME MINISTER WHOM HE SERVED. MORE THAN ANY OTHER ISRAELI HE INCARNATED THE DREAMS, THE STRENGTHS,

2

THE DOUBTS AND THE YEARNINGS OF HIS PEOPLE.

MOSHE DAYAN WAS THEREFORE INEVITABLY A COMPLEX MAN.

HE WAS A LEADER IN A NATION WHICH HAS LIVED THROUGHOUT ITS EXISTENCE UNRECOGNIZED BY ITS NEIGHBORS, ASSAULTED IN INTERNATIONAL FORUMS AND SQUEEZED BY ECONOMIC BOYCOTTS.

WITH ADVERSARIES ON ALL FRONTIERS THE CARDINAL OBJECTIVE OF ISRAEL'S FOREIGN POLICY WAS WHAT FOR OTHER NATIONS IS THE STARTING POINT -- ACCEPTANCE BY ITS NEIGHBORS OF ITS RIGHT TO EXIST.

ISRAEL LONGED FOR PEACE AND IT STROVE FOR SECURITY.

ITS MARGIN FOR SURVIVAL WAS SO NARROW THAT IT COULD RISK NO EXPERIMENTS; ITS LONGING FOR ACCEPTANCE WAS SO OVERWHELMING THAT PEACE ACHIEVED AN ALMOST MYTHICAL QUALITY; A BIBLICAL STATE WHERE TENSIONS DISAPPEARED AND THE WORLD LIVED WITH A SENSE OF HARMONY. THAT VISION OF AN EARTHLY PARADISE HAS NEVER EXISTED ANYWHERE. BUT IN THE ONE COUNTRY THAT HAS NEVER KNOW PEACE, IT SUSTAINS HOPE AND SACRIFICE.

3

IN A NEW STATE SEEKING TO ESCAPE THE PERSECUTION OF
MILLENIA AND YET IN DANGER OF BEING CONSIGNEO TO A
GHETTO-LIKE ISOLATION, A NEW TYPE OF LEADER EMERGED.

HE WAS QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THE TRADITIONAL IMAGE OF THE
JEW AS A COSMOPOLITAN: HARDER, MORE PRAGMATIC AND AT THE
SAME TIME ROMANTIC, THE PEASANT-HERO ROOTED IN THE SOIL,
MATTER-OF-FACT, MASKING HIS EMOTIONS LEST HE ADMIT DOUBT
OVER HIS FATE.

DAYAN WAS LESS INHIBITED. HE WAS WILLING TO EXHIBIT
ISRAEL'S COMPLEXITIES WITHOUT FEAR OF SEEMING WEAK
OR OF LOSING HIS IDENTITY. OF ALL THE ISRAELI LEADERS
I HAVE KNOWN, DAYAN MOST SYMBOLIZED THE INHERENT

AMBIGUITY OF ISRAEL'S EXISTENCE: THE TENSION BETWEEN
THE DEMANDS OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE ALMOST NAIVE

STRIVING FOR A BLESSED RESPITE. HE WAS UNIQUE IN THE
SWEEP OF HIS IMAGINATION, THE NIMBleness OF HIS INTELLECT,
THE ABILITY TO PLACE ISRAEL IN A WORLD CONTEXT. HIS

4

HOBBY WAS ARCHEOLOGY; THIS GAVE HIM AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE BEYOND EVEN THE LONG HISTORY OF HIS OWN PEOPLE. HE UNDERSTOOD THAT THE EXPERIENCE OF CATASTROPHE WAS NOT PECULIAR TO JEWS, EVEN IF DESTINY SEEMS TO HAVE METED IT OUT TO THEM MORE AMPLY THAN TO ALMOST ANY OTHER PEOPLE. HE THEREFORE HAD MORE UNDERSTANDING, AND MORE TOLERANCE OF THE VIEWPOINTS OF OTHER SOCIETIES --- ESPECIALLY THE ARABS' --- THAN WAS CHARACTERISTIC OF MANY OF HIS COMPATRIOTS.

DAYAN HAD THE INTUITION OF A POET. STRANGE AND COMPELLING INSIGHTS ILLUMINATED HIS SOMETIMES WHIMSICAL. DISCOURSE; THEY WERE PUT FORWARD ALMOST TENTATIVELY FOR FEAR THAT THE PASSION WHICH ANIMATED THEM MIGHT REVEAL A VULNERABILITY. OCCASIONALLY THE MANIFOLDNESS OF HIS VISION IMPAIRED THE SINGLE_MINDEDNESS NECESSARY TO MASTER GREAT CRISES. STILL, ONE HAD THE SENSE THAT DAYAN WAS PRESERVING HIMSELF FOR THAT ULTIMATE GOAL OF ENDING

5

THE CYCLE OF WARS. I HAD ALWAYS BELIEVED THAT DAYAN WAS
THE ISRAELI STATESMAN MOST LIKELY TO LEAD ISRAEL TOWARD
PEACE.

MOSHE SEEMED TO HAVE A PREMONITION THAT THE
INTENSITY OF HOPE IS NO GUARANTEE OF ITS FULFILLMENT.
THERE WAS ABOUT HIM A MELANCHOLY WHICH AFFIRMED THE
POWER OF FAITH BUT ALSO THAT GOD HAS NOT VOUCHSAFED
THE REALIZATION OF MAN'S HOPES IN A SINGLE LIFETIME.

THE FATE OF THE DEFENDERS OF MASADA HAUNTED HIM, BOTH
THEIR SACRIFICE AND THEIR TRANSCENDANCE. THE DEATHS
OF MASADA, DAYAN WROTE HAD BEEN "THE VICTORY OF THE
VANQUISHED." HE WENT ON IN REFLECTING AS A SOLDIER
ABOUT THE MEANING OF DEATH IN A COUNTRY WHERE
SACRIFICE HAS BEEN ALL-TOO-FREQUENT:

"THIS IS THE DEATH OF FIGHTING MEN WHO KNOWS
AS THEY GO OUT TO BATTLE THAT THEY SHALL ARRIVE
AT THE GATES OF DEATH: THIS DEATH IS THE PRICE
FOR ENSURING THAT FUTURE OF THE NEXT GENERATION.

6

BUT WHILE ITS RESULTS ARE SEEN IN THE PUBLIC, THE NATIONAL HISTORIC DOMAIN; THE CARRIER IS THE INDIVIDUAL MAN, THE FIGHTING PERSON. ULTIMATELY A MAN GOES OUT TO A BATTLE-UNTO-DEATH, NOT SO MUCH IN ORDER TO ENSURE REDEMPTION FOR OTHERS, NOR EVEN TO SACRIFICE HIMSELF FOR THE FUTURE, BUT BECAUSE PERSONALLY, HE DOES NOT WANT TO SURRENDER, TO BE VANQUISHED. HE DOES NOT FIGHT FOR HIS LIFE BUT FOR THE CONTENT OF THAT LIFE. DEATH, CONSEQUENTLY, IS MERELY THE MOST SUBLIME EXPRESSION OF THE VALOR OF HIS STRIVING."

THESE WORDS WERE BOUND TO HAVE A SPECIAL MEANING IN A COUNTRY WHERE NO CASUALTY IS A STATISTIC, WHERE EVERY SACRIFICE IS LIKE THE LOSS OF A FAMILY MEMBER.

SO DAYAN WAS AT ONCE FATALISTIC AND DEDICATED.

I HAD THE HONOR OF WORKING WITH HIM ON THE DISENGAGEMENT

7

AGREEMENTS SIGNED BETWEEN ISRAEL AND EGYPT AND ISRAEL AND SYRIAN IN 1974. HE WAS INDEFATIGABLE AND EXTRAORDINARILY IMAGINATIVE. IF TO AN OUTSIDER AS WAS SOMETIMES CLAIMED-HIS MANNER SEEMED HAUGHTY, TO ME IT APPEARED AS THE EXPRESSION OF A MAN OF FAITH WHO BUILT DEFENSES AGAINST REJECTION AND MISUNDERSTANDING. HE WAS GENTLE AND KIND IN THE FEW UNGUARDED MOMENTS HE PERMITTED HIMSELF.

THE CRITICS WHO ACCUSED MOSHE OF OPPORTUNISM DISPLAYED THEIR INABILITY TO FACE COMPLEXITY. TRUE, HE SAW MORE CHOICES THAN HIS CONTEMPORARIES. AND HE WAS TOO HONEST TO PRETEND TO SIMPLICITIES HIS WHOLE BEING ABHORED. HE UNDERSTOOD THE NEED TO PERSIST IN ISRAEL'S SURVIVAL BUT ALSO THAT MERE PERSISTENCE IN THE STATUS QUO WOULD GRADUALLY ERODE ISRAEL'S EXISTENCE. SO MOSHE LIKE MOST PROPHETS WAS OCCASIONALLY MISUNDERSTOOD BY HIS CONTEMPORARIES. HE WOULD TRY MANY AVENUES, BUT HIS VISION WAS CONSTANT. HE WAS A FLEXIBLE TACTICIAN BUT A FARSEEING STRATEGIST. HE WAS BRAVE.

8

ORIGINAL AND REALISTIC. CONFORMITY REPELLED HIM;

HE WAS INCAPABLE OF SURRENDERING TO CONVENTION. YET
IN VICTORY OR DEFEAT THERE WAS NEVER A FALSE NOTE.

HE WAS THE QUINTESSENTIAL HERO BEARING THE BURDENS
OF OTHERS. IT IS TOO MUCH TO ASK SUCH MEN TO BE ALWAYS
COMFORTABLE TO LIVE WITH. THE WORDS OF PLUTARCH ABOUT
SERTORLUS APPLIED AS WELL TO MOSHE DAYAN:

".... HE DEMONSTRATED WONDEROUR HEROISM AND WAS
SO UNSPARING OF HIMSELF, EXPOSING HIS BODY IN
BATTLE, THAT HE LOST ONE EYE...IT IS CUSTOMARY
FOR MEN TO AVOID DISPLAYING ALL THE MEDALS OF
THEIR VALOR...BUT HIS BADGE OF COURAGE SO STUCK
TO HIM THAT ALL WHO SAW HIM WERE CONSTANTLY
REMINDED OF HIS COURAGE."

WAR WAS DAYAN'S PROFESSION: PEACE WAS HIS OBSESSION.

IN JANUARY 1974, HE VISITED ME WITH HIS CONCEPT OF A
SINAI DISENGAGEMENT. HE BROUGHT WITH HIM A MAP

9

MORE GENEROUS THAN I HAD EXPECTED. HE TOLD ME IT
WAS THE BEST OFFER ISRAEL COULD MAKE; THE SUBJECT
WAS TOO IMPORTANT FOR HAGGLING: IF THERE WAS A NOT A
QUICK SOLUTION THE OPPORTUNITY MIGHT DISAPPEAR. I
SUGGESTED HE GIVE ME A LESS GENEROUS PROPOSAL SO THAT I WOULD NOT
NEED TO PRESENT IT ON A TAKE-IT-OR-LEAVE-IT BASIS.

HE HAD NO STOMACH FOR IT; WE SHOULD NOT WASTE TIME
ON TACTICS. I BELIEVED HIM; I DID NOT THINK HE WAS
TRICKING ME. I KNEW HE HAD MADE THE GREATEST CONCESSION
POSSIBLE AND I DID NOT PRESS HIM FOR MORE. WHEN I
CAME TO ISRAEL WE SAT IN HIS GARDEN SURROUNDED BY
ARCHEOLOGICAL OBJECTS. HE WAS MYSTICALLY CONVINCED
THE EFFORT WOULD SUCCEED AND HE WAS PROVED RIGHT.

IT WAS DAYAN's FATE THAT LIKE MOSES HE WAS
PERMITTED A GLIMPSE OF THE PROMISED LAND BUT THAT IT
WAS NOT GIVEN TO HIM TO COMPLETE HIS VISION. AT THE
PRECISE MOMENT MADE FOR HIS TALENTS HE WAS OVERWHELMED

10

BY THE PASSIONS OF THE WAR THAT HAD AT LAST CREATED
THE OPPORTUNITY FOR PEACE. WHAT MADE HIS FATE SO PAINFUL
WAS THAT DAYAN, THE MOST IMAGINATIVE OF ISRAELI
LEADERS, COULD NOT RECOGNIZE HIS OWN PREDICTIONS
WHEN THEY AT LAST CAME TRUE. FOR YEARS HE HAD WARNED
THAT WAR WOULD BE INEVITABLE IF ISRAEL INSISTED ON
REMAINING ALONG THE SUEZ CANAL. HE HAD FAVORED A
DISENGAGEMENT OF FORCES, OR IF NECESSARY A UNILATERAL
ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL TO CREATE A BUFFER ZONE. HE HAD
NEVER BEEN ABLE TO PERSUADE HIS CABINET COLLEAGUES
WHO SIMPLY HAD NO CATEGORY OF THOUGHT FOR UNILATERAL
WITHDRAWALS.

DAYAN'S FORESIGHT WAS VINDICATED BUT IN
CIRCUMSTANCES THAT NEARLY DESTROYED HIM. THERE WERE
A HOST OF EXPLANATIONS FOR HIS INABILITY TO RECOGNIZE
THAT THE VERY ATTACK HE HAD BEEN WARNING AGAINST WAS
IMMINENT: MANY OTHERS--MYSELF INCLUDED--HAD DRAWN

11

THE SAME WRONG CONCLUSIONS ABOUT EGYPT'S INTENTIONS.

BUT HEROES LOSE SOMETHING OF THEIR FAITH IN THEMSELVES

WHEN THEY EXPERIENCE FALLIBILITY. DAYAN AFTER 1973

WAS NEVER QUITE THE SAME. HE WAS TOO CLOSE TO HIS

DREAM OF BECOMING THE MINISTER OF PEACE TO ABANDON

IT AND YET TOO FAR FROM HIS DESTINY TO BE ABLE

TO SEIZE IT BY AN ACT OF WILL. HE WAS SUSPENDED

BETWEEN HIS DREAM AND HIS PREMONITION, TOO PROUD TO

GRASP, TOO INSECURE TO WITHDRAW, TOO SURE THAT THIS

WAS HIS HOUR TO ADMIT THAT IT WAS THE WRONG MOMENT

AND THEREBY PERHAPS PRESERVE HIMSELF FOR HIS ULTIMATE

MISSION.

SO FOR THREE PAINFUL YEARS HE WAS OBLIGED TO WATCH FROM
THE SIDELINES. THEN HE RETURNED IN 1977 FOR ONE MORE
HEROIC ASSAULT ON THE PROMISED LAND. HISTORY WILL
RECORD HIM AS A PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT OF THE PEACE
TREATY WITH EGYPT. HE CONDUCTED THE PRELIMINARY
NEGOTIATIONS IN MOROCCO WHICH GAVE SADAT THE COURAGE

12

TO RISK THE JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM. AND HE WAS A MAJOR
FRAMER OF THE CAMP DAVID ACCORDS.

ALL WHO KNEW MOSHE DAYAN RECOGNIZE THAT HIS
ULTIMATE ASPIRATION WAS THE RECONCILIATION BETWEEN ARABS
AND JEWS. HE SOUGHT A PERHAPS UTOPIAN SOLUTION WHERE
ISRAELIS AND ARABS COULD LIVE TOGETHER ON THE WEST
BANK ON THE BASIS OF MUTUAL RESPECT WITH NEITHER SIDE
DOMINATING THE OTHER.

HE DID NOT LIVE TO SEE THAT GOAL ACHIEVED. PERHAPS
DESTINY IS WISE IN NOT PERMITTING THE GREATEST INSPIRATIONS
TO BE IMPLEMENTED BY THEIR AUTHOR. ONLY THUS IS IT
POSSIBLE TO PRESERVE THEIR PURITY FROM THE CONTAMINATION
INSEPARABLE FROM WORKING WITH THE IMPERFECTIONS AND
COMPROMISES OF DAILY LIFE. BUT THAT WHICH ASSURES A
MAN A PLACE IN HISTORY MAY ALSO COMPLICATE AND PERHAPS
EMBITTER HIS EXISTENCE.

DAYAN WAS LONELY BECAUSE HIS SPIRIT WAS GREAT;

13

HE REMINDED US THAT EVERY GREAT

ACHIEVEMENT WAS A DREAM BEFORE IT BECAME A REALITY.

DAYAN WAS SOMETIMES IMPATIENT WITH THE GREAT ALLY

WHOSE ACTIONS WERE SO CRITICAL FOR HIS COUNTRY'S

FUTURE. BUT HE NEVER FORGOT THE IMPORTANCE OF CLOSE

COOPERATION BASED ON A REAL MEETING OF MINDS. IT IS

A LESSON WE MUST NOT FORGET AT THIS MOMENT WHEN OUR

TWO COUNTRIES ARE NEITHER QUARRELING NOR REALLY

UNDERSTANDING EACH OTHER.

IMMORTALITY IS TO

SET TASKS OTHER GENERATIONS CANNOT IGNORE. NONE OF

US WILL FORGET THIS GRACEFUL, BRAVE AND DEDICATED

STATESMAN. WHEN PEACE COMES AT LAST, IT WILL BE

INSPIRED IN EQUAL PARTS OF HIS COURAGE AND HIS

MAGNANIMITY. AND WE WILL CONSOLE OURSELVES

ABOUT HIS LOSS BY REMINDING OURSELVES THAT THE LEAD

TIME FOR PROPHETS HAS SHRUNK. SO WE WILL PRAY THAT

14

HIS DREAM UNREALIZED IN HIS LIFETIME WILL BE GRANTED
TO US IN OURS.

MOSHE DAYAN WAS MY FRIEND. BEING ABLE TO SAY
THIS AND HAVING HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF WORKING WITH
HIM WILL BE MY BADGE OF HONOR SO LONG AS I LIVE.

9/19/83

MOSHE DAYAN'S LIFE PARALLELLED THE HISTORY OF
THE ISRAELI PEOPLE. AS A SOLDIER, WHO STROVE FOR
SECURITY, AS A STATESMAN WHO YEARNED FOR PEACE AND
AS A MAN OF CONVICTION WHO KNEW THAT THE STATE WHICH
HAD BEEN A VISION COULD ULTIMATELY SURVIVE ONLY THROUGH
FAITH. HE WAS A PRINCIPAL ACTOR IN EVERY KEY EVENT OF
THE YOUNG STATE. HE WAS INVOLVED IN ALL OF ISRAEL'S
WARS. HE PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN ALL ITS TRUCES AND
CEASEFIRES. HE INSPIRED AND HELPED NEGOTIATE ITS PEACE
TREATIES. HE PARTICIPATED IN THE SPLITS AND RECONCILLIATIONS
OF THE PARTIES WHICH MARK ISRAEL'S POLITICAL LIFE. AS
MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, THAT RESTLESS MIND EVEN INTRODUCED
THE FIRST MECHANICALLY HARVESTABLE TOMATOES. HE WAS A
LEADER FOR LONGER THAN HIS ORIGINAL MENTOR, BEN GURION,
OR HIS LATER PATRON AND FRIEND, GOLDA MEIR OR MENACHEM
BEGIN THE LAST PRIME MINISTER WHOM HE SERVED. MORE THAN
ANY OTHER ISRAELI HE INCARNATED THE DREAMS, THE STRENGTHS,

2

HE WAS A LEADER IN A NATION WHICH HAS LIVED THROUGHOUT ITS EXISTENCE UNRECOGNIZED BY ITS NEIGHBORS, ASSAULTED IN INTERANTIONAL FORUMS AND SQUEEZED BY ECONOMIC BOYCOTTS.

WITH ADVERSARIES ON ALL FRONTIERS THE CARDINAL OBJECTIVE OF ISRAEL'S FOREIGN POLICY WAS WHAT FOR OTHER NATIONS IS THE STARTING POINT OF FOREIGN POLICY -- ACCEPTANCE BY ITS NEIGHBORS OF ITS RIGHT TO EXIST.

3

IN A NEW STATE SEEKING TO ESCAPE THE PERSECUTION OF
MILLENIA AND YET IN DANGER OF BEING CONSIDED TO A
BROUGHT FORTH
GHETTO-LIKE ISOLATION, A NEW TYPE OF LEADER EMERGED.
HE WAS QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THE TRADITIONAL IMAGE OF THE
JEW AS A COSMOPOLITAN: HARDER, MORE PRAGMATIC, LESS
AND YET MORE
ROMANTIC, THE PEASANT-HERO ROOTED IN THE SOIL, MATTER-
OF-FACT, MASKING HIS EMOTIONS LEST HE ADMIT DOUBT OVER
HIS FATE.

LESS INHIBITED.
DAYAN WAS DIFFERENT. HE WAS WILLING TO EXHIBIT
AMBIGENCES
ISRAEL'S COMPLEXITIES WITHOUT FEAR OF SEEMING WEAK
OR OF LOSING HIS IDENTITY. OF ALL THE ISRAELI LEADERS
I HAVE KNOWN, DAYAN MOST SYMBOLIZED THE INHERENT AMBIGUITY
OF ISRAEL'S EXISTENCE: THE TENSION BETWEEN THE DEMANDS
OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE ALMOST NAIVE STRIVING FOR A
BLESSED RESPITE. HE WAS UNIQUE IN THE SWEEP OF HIS
IMAGINATION, THE NIMBLENESS OF HIS INTELLECT, THE
ABILITY TO PLACE ISRAEL IN A WORLD CONTEXT. HIS

4

HOBBY WAS ARCHEOLOGY; THIS GAVE HIM AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE BEYOND EVEN THE LONG HISTORY OF HIS OWN PEOPLE. HE UNDERSTOOD THAT THE EXPERIENCE OF CATASTROPHE WAS NOT PECULIAR TO JEWS, EVEN IF DESTINY SEEMS TO HAVE METED IT OUT TO THEM MORE AMPLY THAN TO ALMOST ANY OTHER PEOPLE. HE THEREFORE HAD MORE UNDERSTANDING, AND MORE TOLERANCE OF THE VIEWPOINTS OF OTHER SOCIETIES --- ESPECIALLY THE ARABS' --- THAN WAS CHARACTERISTIC OF MOST OF HIS COMPATRIOTS.

DAYAN HAD THE INTUITION OF A POET. STRANGE AND COMPELLING INSIGHTS ILLUMIATED HIS SOMETIMES WHIMSICAL DISCOURSE; THEY WERE PUT FORWARD ALMOST TENTATIVELY FOR FEAR THAT THE PASSION WHICH ANIMATED THEM MIGHT REVEAL A VULNERABILITY. ORIGINALLY THE MANIFOLDNESS OF HIS VISION IMPAIRED THE SINGLE MINDEDNESS NECESSARY TO MASTER GREAT CRISES. STILL, ONE HAD THE SENSE THAT DAYAN WAS PRESERVING HIMSELF FOR THAT ULTIMATE GOAL OF ENDING

5

THE CYCLE OF WAR I HAD ALWAYS BELIEVED THAT DAYAN WAS
THE ISRAELI STATESMAN MOST LIKELY TO LEAD ISRAEL TOWARD
PEACE.

MOSHE SEEMED TO HAVE A PREMONITION THAT THE
INTENSITY OF HOPE IS NO GUARANTEE OF ITS FULFILLMENT.
THERE WAS ABOUT HIM A MELANCHOLY WHICH AFFIRMED THE
POWER OF FAITH BUT ALSO THAT GOD HAS NOT VOUCHSAFED
THE REALIZATION OF MAN'S HOPES IN A SINGLE LIFETIME.
THE FATE OF DEFENDERS OF MASADA HAUNTED HIM, BOTH
THEIR SACRIFICE AND THEIR TRANSCENDANCE. THE DEATHS
OF MASADA, DAYAN WROTE HAD BEEN "THE VICTORY OF THE
VANQUISHED." HE WENT ON IN REFLECTING AS A SOLDIER
ABOUT THE MANING OF DEATH IN A COUNTRY WHERE
SACRIFICE HAS BEEN ALL-TOO-FREQUENT:

"THIS IS THE DEATH OF FIGHTING MEN WHO KNOW AS THEY GO OUT TO BATTLE THAT THEY SHALL ARRIVE AT THE GATES OF DEATH: THIS DEATH IS THE PRICE FOR ENSURING THAT FUTURE OF THE NEXT GENERATION.

6

BUT WHILE ITS RESULTS ARE SEEN IN THE PUBLIC, THE NATIONAL HISTORIC DOMAIN; THE CARRIER IS THE INDIVIDUAL MAN, THE FIGHTING PERSON. ULTIMATELY A MAN GOES OUT TO A BATTLE-UNTO-DEATH, NOT SO MUCH IN ORDER TO ENSURE REDEMPTION FOR OTHERS, NOR EVEN TO SACRIFICE HIMSELF FOR THE FUTURE, BUT BECAUSE PERSONALLY, HE DOES NOT WANT TO SURRENDER, TO BE VANQUISHED. HE DOES NOT FIGHT FOR HIS LIFE BUT FOR THE CONTENT OF THAT LIFE. DEATH, CONSEQUENTLY, IS MERELY THE MOST SUBLIME EXPRESSION OF THE VALOR OF HIS STRINGING."

SO DAYAN WAS AT ONCE FATALISTIC AND DECICATED.
I HAD THE HONOR OF WORKING WITH HIM ON THE DISENGAGEMENT

7

AGREEMENTS SIGNED BETWEEN ISRAEL AND EGYPT AND ISRAEL AND SYRIAN IN 1974. HE WAS INDEFATIGABLE AND EXTRAORDINARILY IMAGINATIVE. IF TO AN OUTSIDER AS WAS SOMETIMES CLAIMED — HIS MANNER SEEMED HAUGHTY, TO ME IT APPEARED AS THE EXPRESSION OF A MAN OF FAITH WHO BUILT DEFENSES AGAINST REJECTION AND MISUNDERSTANDING. HE WAS GENTLE AND KIND IN THE FEW UNGUARDED MOMENTS HE PERMITTED HIMSELF.

8

HE WAS THE QUINTESSENTIAL HERO BEARING THE BURDENS
OF OTHERS. IT IS TOO MUCH TO ASK SUCH MEN TO BE
UNCOMFORTABLE TO LIVE WITH. THE WORDS OF PLUTARCH ABOUT
SERTORPLUS APPLIED AS WELL TO MOSHE DAYAN:

".... HE DEMONSTRATED WONDERFUL HEROISM AND WAS
SO UNSPARING OF HIMSELF, EXPOSING HIS BODY IN
BATTLE, THAT HE LOST ONE EYE...IT IS CUSTOMARY
FOR MEN TO AVOID DISPLAYING ALL HTEMEDALS OF
THEIR VALOR...BUT HSI BADGE OF COURAGE SO STUCK
TO HIM THAT ALL WHO SAW HIM WERE CONSTANTLY
REMINDED OF HIS COURAGE."

9

MORE GENEROUS THAN I HAD EXPECTED. HE TOLD ME IT
WAS THE BEST OFFER ISRAEL COULD MAKE; THE SUBJECT
WAS TOO IMPORTANT FOR HAGGLING: IF THERE WAS A
QUICK SOLUTION THE OPPORTUNITY MIGHT DISAPPEAR. I
SUGGESTED HE GIVE ME A LESS GENEROUS PROPOSAL SO THAT I WOULD NOT
NEED TO PRESENT IT ON A TAKE-IT-OR-LEAVE-IT BASIS.
HE HAD NO STOMACH FOR IT; WE SHOULD NOT WASTE TIME
ON TACTICS. I BELIEVED HIM; I DID NOT THINK HE WAS
TRICKING ME. I KNEW HE HAD MADE THE GREATEST CONCESSION
P OSSIBLE AND I DID NOT PRESS HIM FOR MORE. WHEN I
CAME TO ISRAEL WE SAT IN HIS GARDEN SURROUNDED BY
ARCHEOLOGICAL OBJECTS. HE WAS MYSTICALLY CONVINCED
THE EFFORT WOULD SUCCEED AND HE WAS PROVED RIGHT.

10

BY THE PASSIONS OF THE WAR THAT HAD AT LAST CREATED
FOR A PEACE PROCESS
THE OPPORTUNITY WHAT MADE HIS FATE SO PAINFUL
WAS THAT DAYAN, THE MOST IMAGINATIVE OF ISRAELI
LEADERS, COULD NOT RECOGNIZE HIS OWN PREDICTIONS
WHEN THEY AT LAST CAME TRUE. FOR YEARS HE HAD WARNED
THAT WAR WOULD BE INEVITABLE IF ISRAEL INSISTED ON
REMAINING ALONG THE SUEZ CANAL. HE HAD FAVORED A
DISENGAGEMENT OF FORCES, OR IF NECESSARY A UNILATERAL
ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL TO CREATE A BUFFER ZONE. HE HAD
NEVER BEEN ABLE TO PERSUADE HIS CABINET COLLEAGUES
WHO SIMPLY HAD NO CATEGORY OF THOUGHT FOR UNILATERAL
WITHDRAWALS.

11

BUT HEROES LOSE SOMETHING OF THEIR FAITH IN THEMSELVES
WHEN THEY EXPERIENCE FALLIBILITY. DAYAN AFTER 1973
WAS NEVER QUITE THE SAME. HE WAS TOO CLOSE TO HIS
DREAM OF BECOMING THE MINISTER OF PEACE TO LET THAT
DREAM GO AND YET TOO FAR FROM HIS DESTINY TO BE ABLE—

REACH TO GRASP IT BY AN ACT OF WILL. HE WAS SUSPENDED

BETWEEN HIS DREAM AND HIS PREMONITION, TOO PROUD TO
GRASP, TOO INSECURE TO WITHDRAW, TOO SURE THAT THIS
WAS HIS HOUR TO ADMIT THAT IT WAS THE WRONG MOMENT FOR HIM
AND THEREBY PERHAPS PRESERVE HIMSELF FOR HIS ULTIMATE
MISSION.

SO FOR THREE PAINFUL YEARS HE WAS FORCED TO WATCH FOR THE
SIDELINES AND THEN HE RETURNED IN 1977 FOR ONE MORE
HEROIC ASSAULT ON THE PROMISED LAND. HISTORY WILL
RECORD HIM AS A PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT OF THE PEACE
TREATY WITH EGYPT. HE CONDUCTED THE PRELIMINARY
NEGOTIATIONS IN MOROCCO WHICH GAVE SADAT THE COURAGE

12

13

DISTANT GOALS: HE REMINDED US THAT EVERY GREAT ACHIEVEMENT WAS A DREAM BEFORE IT BECAME A REALITY.

14

NOT
IF NOT
WILL BE
GRANTED
DISTRIBUTED TO
THAN IN OURS.

MOSHE DAYAN WAS MY FRIEND. BEING ABLE TO SAY
THIS AND HAVING HAD THE HONOR OF WORKING WITH HIM
WILL BE MY BADGE OF HONOR SO LONG AS I LIVE.

8

[y]

HE WAS THE QUINTESSENTIAL HERO BEARING HIS VERY PHYSIOGNOMY REFLECTED HIS CONSTANT STRUCTURE.

THE BURDENS OF OTHERS, THIS IS TO BE UNDERSTAND & ACKNOWLEDGE & BE COMFORTABLE WITH.

WELL TO MOSHE DAYAN:

> "...HE DEMONSTRATED WONDEROUS HEROISM AND WAS SO UNSPARING OF HIMSELF, EXPOSING HIS BODY IN BATTLE, THAT HE LOST ONE EYE...IT IS CUSTOMARY FOR MEN TO AVOID DISPLAYING ALL THE MEDALS OF THEIR VALOR...BUT HIS BADGE OF COURAGE SO STUCK TO HIM THAT ALL WHO SAW HIM WERE CONSTANTLY REMINDED OF HIS COURAGE."

IN JANUARY 1974 HE VISITED ME WITH HIS CONCEPT OF A SINAI DISENGAGEMENT. HE BROUGHT WITH HIM A MAP

12

TO RISK THE JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM. AND HE WAS A MAJOR FRAMER OF THE CAMP DAVID ACCORDS. PERHAPS DESTINY IS WISE IN NOT PERMITTING THE GREATEST INSPIRATIONS

TO BE IMPLEMENTED BY THEIR AUTHOR. ONLY IF POSSIBLE, PRESERVE THEIR PURITY FROM THE CONTAMINATION OF INSEPARABLE FROM WORKING WITH THE IMPERFECTIONS AND COMPROMISES OF DAILY LIFE.

ALL WHO KNEW MOSHE DAYAN RECOGNIZE THAT HIS ULTIMATE DREAM WAS THE RECONCILIATION BETWEEN ARABS AND JEWS.

HE SOUGHT A PERHAPS UTOPIAN SOLUTION WHERE ISRAEL IS AND ARABS COULD LIVE TOGETHER ON THE WEST BANK ON THE BASIS OF MUTUAL RESPECT WITH NEITHER SIDE DOMINATING THE OTHER.

HE DID NOT LIVE TO SEE THAT GOAL ACHIEVED. AND YET IT IS THE MEANING OF PROPHETS TO HOLD BEFORE US A VISION TO ENNOBLE AND INSPIRE US. DAYAN WAS LONELY BECAUSE HIS SPIRIT WAS GREAT; HE INSPIRED BY GETTING

MOSHE DAYAN'S LIFE PARALLELLED THE HISTORY OF
THE ISRAELI PEOPLE. AS A SOLDIER, WHO STROVE FOR
SECURITY, AS A STATESMAN WHO YEARNED FOR PEACE AND
AS A MAN OF CONVICTION WHO KNEW THAT THE STATE WHICH
HAD BEEN A VISION COULD ULTIMATELY SURVIVE ONLY THROUGH
FAITH. HE WAS A PRINCIPAL ACTOR IN EVERY KEY EVENT OF
THE YOUNG STATE. HE WAS INVOLVED IN ALL OF ISRAEL'S
WARS. HE PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN ALL ITS TRUCES AND
CEASEFIRES. HE INSPIRED AND HELPED NEGOTIATE ITS PEACE
TREATIS. HE PARTICIPATED IN THE SPLITS AND RECONCILLIATIONS
OF THE PARTIES WHICH MARK ISRAEL'S POLITICAL LIFE. AS
MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, THAT RESTLESS MIND EVEN INTRODUCED
THE FIRST MECHANICALLY HARVESTABLE TOMATOES. HE WAS A
LEADER FOR LONGER THAN HIS ORIGINAL MENTOR, BEN GURION,
OR HIS LATER PATRON AND FRIEND, GOLDA MEIR OR MENACHEM
BEGIN THE LAST PRIME MINISTER WHOM HE SERVED. MORE THAN
ANY OTHER ISRAELI HE INCARNATED THE DREAMS, THE STRENGTHS,

2

3

IN A NEW STATE SEEKING TO ESCAPE THE PERSECUTION OF
MILLENIA AND YET IN DANGER OF BEING CONSIRED TO A

DAYAN WAS LESS INHIBITED. HE WAS WILLING TO EXHIBIT
ISRAEL'S COMPLEXITIES WITHOUT FEAR OF SEEMING WEAK
OR OF LOSING HIS IDENTITY. OF ALL THE ISRAELI LEADERS
I HAVE KNOWN, DAYAN MOST SYMBOLIZED THE INHERENT AMBIGUITY
OF ISRAEL'S EXISTENCE: THE TENSION BETWEEN THE DEMANDS
OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE ALMOST NAIVE STRIVING FOR A
BLESSED RESPITE. HE WAS UNIQUE IN THE SWEEP OF HIS
IMAGINATION, THE NIMBLENESS OF HIS INTELLECT, THE
ABILITY TO PLACE ISRAEL IN A WORLD CONTEXT. HIS

HOBBY WAS ARCHEOLOGY; THIS GAVE HIM AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE BEYOND EVEN THE LONG HISTORY OF HIS OWN PEOPLE. HE UNDERSTOOD THAT THE EXPERIENCE OF CATASTROPHE WAS NOT PECULIAR TO JEWS, EVEN IF DESTINY SEEMS TO HAVE METED IT OUT TO THEM MORE AMPLY THAN TO ALMOST ANY OTHER PEOPLE. HE THEREFORE HAD MORE UNDERSTANDING, AND MORE TOLERANCE OF THE VIEWPOINTS OF OTHER SOCIETIES --- ESPECIALLY THE ARABS' --- THAN WAS CHARACTERISTIC OF ANY OF HIS COMPATRIOTS.

DAYAN HAD THE INTUITION OF A POET. STRANGE AND COMPELLING INSIGHTS ILLUMIATED HIS SOMETIMES WHIMSICAL DISCOURSE; THEY WERE PUT FORWARD ALMOST TENTATIVELY FOR FEAR THAT THE PASSION WHICH ANIMATED THEM MIGHT REVEAL A VULNERABILITY. OCCASIONALLY THE MANIFOLDNESS OF HIS VISION IMPAIRED THE SINGLE_MINDEDNESS NECESSARY TO MASTER GREAT CRISES. STILL, ONE HAD THE SENSE THAT DAYAN WAS PRESERVING HIMSELF FOR THAT ULTIMATE GOAL OF ENDING

5

THE CYCLES OF WARS. I HAD ALWAYS BELIEVED THAT DAYAN WAS
THE ISRAELI STATESMAN MOST LIKELY TO LEAD ISRAEL TOWARD
PEACE.

6

BUT WHILE ITS RESULTS ARE SEEN IN THE PUBLIC, THE NATIONAL HISTORIC DOMAIN; THE CARRIER IS THE INDIVIDUAL MAN, THE FIGHTING PERSON. ULTIMATELY A MAN GOES OUT TO A BATTLE-UNTO-DEATH, NOT SO MUCH IN ORDER TO ENSURE REDEMPTION FOR OTHERS, NOR EVEN TO SACRIFICE HIMSELF FOR THE FUTURE, BUT BECAUSE PERSONALLY, HE DOES NOT WANT TO SURRENDER, TO BE VANQUISHED. HE DOES NOT FIGHT FOR HIS LIFE BUT FOR THE CONTENT OF THAT LIFE. DEATH, CONSEQUENTLY, IS merely the most SUBLIME EXPRESSION OF THE VALOR OF HIS STRINGING."

7

AGREEMENTS SIGNED BETWEEN ISRAEL AND EGYPT AND ISRAEL AND SYRIAN IN 1974. HE WAS INDEFATIGABLE AND EXTRAORDINARILY IMAGINATIVE. IF TO AN OUTSIDER-AS WAS SOMETIMES CLAIMED — HIS MANNER SEEMED HAUGHTY, TO ME IT APPEARED AS THE EXPRESSION OF A MAN OF FAITH WHO BUILD DEFENSES AGAINST REJECTION AND MISUNDERSTANDING. HE WAS GENTLE AND KIND IN THE FEW UNGUARDED MOMENTS HE PERMITTED HIMSELF.

Cy

8

HE WAS INCAPABLE OF SURRENDERING TO CONVENTION. YET
IN VICTORY OR DEFEAT THERE WAS NEVER A FALST NOTE.

CONFORTABLE TO LIVE WITH. THE WORDS OF PLUTARCH ABOUT

SERTOR/LUS APPLIED AS WELL TO MOSHE DAYAN:

".... HE DEMONSTRATED WONDEROUR HEROISMA ND WAS
SO UNSPARING OF HIMSELF, EXPOSING HIS BODY IN
BATTLE, THAT HE LOST ONE EYE...IT IS CUSTOMARY
FOR MEN TO AVOID DISPLAYING ALL HTEMEDALS OF
THEIR VALOR...BUT HSI BADGE OF COURAGE SO STUCK
TO HIM THAT ALL WHO SAW HIM WERE CONSTANTLY
REMINDED OF HIS COURAGE."

9

MORE GENEROUS THAN I HAD EXPECTED. HE TOLD ME IT
WAS THE BEST OFFER ISRAEL COULD MAKE; THE SUBJECT
WAS TOO IMPORTANT FOR HAGGLING: IF THERE WAS NOT A
QUICK SOLUTION THE OPPORTUNITY MIGHT DISAPPEAR. I
SUGGESTED HE GIVE ME A LESS GENEROUS PROPOSAL SO THAT I WOULD NOT
NEED TO PRESENT IT ON A TAKE-IT-OR-LEAVE-IT BASIS.
HE HAD NO STOMACH FOR IT; WE SHOULD NOT WASTE TIME
ON TACTICS. I BELIEVED HIM; I DID NOT THINK HE WAS
TRICKING ME. I KNEW HE HAD MADE THE GREATEST CONCESSION
POSSIBLE AND I DID NOT PRESS HIM FOR MORE. WHEN I
CAME TO ISRAEL WE SAT IN HIS GARDEN SURROUNDED BY
ARCHEOLOGICAL OBJECTS. HE WAS MYSTICALLY CONVINCED
THE EFFORT WOULD SUCCEED AND HE WAS PROVED RIGHT.

IT WAS DAYAN'S FATE THAT LIKE MOSES HE WAS
PERMITTED A GLIMPSE OF THE PROMISED LAND BUT THAT IT
WAS NOT GIVEN TO HIM TO COMPLETE HIS VISION. AT THE
PRECISE MOMENT MADE FOR HIS TALENTS HE WAS OVERWHELMED

10

BY THE PASSIONS OF THE WAR THAT HAD AT LAST CREATED
THE OPPORTUNITY FOR PEACE, WHAT MADE HIS FATE SO PAINFUL
WAS THAT DAYAN, THE MOST IMAGINATIVE OF ISRAELI
LEADERS, COULD NOT RECOGNIZE HIS OWN PREDICTIONS
WHEN THEY AT LAST CAME TRUE. FOR YEARS HE HAD WARNED
THAT WAR WOULD BE INEVITABLE IF ISRAEL INSISTED ON
REMAINING ALONG THE SUEZ CANAL. HE HAD FAVORED A
DISENGAGEMENT OF FORCES, OR IF NECESSARY A UNILATERAL
ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL TO CREATE A BUFFER ZONE. HE HAD
NEVER BEEN ABLE TO PERSUADE HIS CABINET COLLEAGUES
WHO SIMPLY HAD NO CATEGORY OF THOUGHT FOR UNILATERAL
WITHDRAWALS.

11

TO DO IT BY AN ACT OF WILL. HE WAS SUSPENDED

MISSION.

SO FOR THREE PAINFUL YEARS HE WAS OBLIGED TO
SIDELINES, AND THEN HE RETURNED IN 1977 FOR ONE MORE
HEROIC ASSAULT ON THE PROMISED LAND. HISTORY WILL
RECORD HIM AS A PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT OF THE PEACE
TREATY WITH EGYPT. HE CONDUCTED THE PRELIMINARY
NEGOTIATIONS IN MOROCCO WHICH GAVE SADAT THE COURAGE

12

13

DISTANT GOALS; HE REMINDED US THAT EVERY GREAT ACHIEVEMENT WAS A DREAM BEFORE IT BECAME A REALITY.

12

TO RISK THE HOURNEY TO JERUSALEM. AND HE WAS A MAJOR
FRAMER OF THE CAMP DAVID ACCORDS. PERHAPS DESTINY IS
WISE IN NOT PERMITTING THE GREATEST INSPIRATIONS TO
BE IMPLEMENTED BY THEIR AUTHOR. ONLY THUS IS IT
POSSIBLE TO PRESERVE THEIR PURITY FROM THE CONTAMINATION
INSEPARABLE FROM WORKING WITH THE IMPERFECTIONS AND
COMPROMISES OF DAILY LIFE. BUT THAT WHICH ASSURES A MAN
A PLACE IN HISTORY MAY ALSO COMPLICATE AND PERHAPS
EMBITTER HIS EXISTENCE.

ALL WHO KNEW MOSHE DAYAN RECOGNIZE THAT HIS
ULTIMATE ASPIRATION WAS THE RECONCILLIATION BETWEEN ARABS
AND JEWS. HE SOUGHT A PERHAPS UTOPIAN SOLUTION WHERE
ISREALIS AND ARABS COULD LIVE TOGETHER ON THE WEST
BANK ON THE BASIS OF MUTUAL RESPECT WITH NEITHER SIDE
DOMINATING THE OTHER.

12

MOSHE DAYAN'S LIFE REFLECTS THE HISTORY OF THE ISRAELI PEOPLE. AS A SOLDIER, WHO STROVE FOR SECURITY, AS A STATESMAN WHO YEARNED FOR PEACE AND AS A MAN OF PARALLEL.

THE STATE WHICH HAD BEEN A VISION COULD
CONVICTION WHO KNEW THAT HIS PEOPLE WOULD SURVIVE ONLY PRINCIPLE ACTOR
WAS A KEY PARTICIPANT

ULTIMATELY SURVIVE

THROUGH FAITH. HE PARTICIPATED IN EVERY KEY EVENT OF THE YOUNG STATE. HE WAS INVOLVED IN ALL OF ISRAEL'S WARS. HE PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN ALL ITS TRUCES AND CEASEFIRES. HE INSPIRED AND HELPED NEGOTIATE ITS PEACE TREATIES. HE PARTICIPATED IN THE SPLITS AND RECONCILIATIONS OF THE PARTIES WHICH MARK ISRAEL'S POLITICAL LIFE. AS MINISTER OF AGRICULTURAL THAT RESTLESS MIND EVEN INTRODUCED THE FIRST MECHANICALLY HARVESTABLE TOMATOES. HE WAS A LEADER FOR LONGER THAN BEN GURION, HIS ORIGINAL MENTOR, OK OF GOLDA MEIR (HIS LATER PATRON) AND FRIEND OF MENACHEM BEGIN THE LAST PRIME MINISTER WHOM HE SERVED. MORE THAN ANY OTHER ISRAELI HE INCRIMINATED THE DREAMS, THE STRENGTHS, THE DOUBTS AND THE YEARNINGS OF HIS PEOPLE.

2

HE WAS A LEADER IN A NATION WHICH HAS LIVED THROUGHOUT ITS EXISTENCE UNRECOGNIZED BY ITS NEIGHBORS, ASSAULTED IN INTERNATIONAL FORUMS AND SQUEEZED BY ECONOMIC BOYCOTTS. WITH ADVERSARIES ON ALL FRONTIERS THE CARDINAL OBJECTIVE OF ISRAEL'S FOREIGN POLICY WAS WHAT FOR OTHER NATIONS IS THE STARTING POINT OF FOREIGN POLICY -- ACCEPTANCE BY ITW NEIGHBORS OF ITS RIGHT TO EXIST.

ISRAEL YEARNED FOR PEACE AND IT STROVE FOR SECURITY. ITS MARGIN FOR SURVIVAL WAS SO NARROW THAT IT COULD RISK NO EXPERIMENTS; ITS LONGING FOR ACCEPTANCE WAS SO OVERWHELMING THAT PEACE ACHIEVED AN ALMOST MYTHICAL QUALITY; A BIBLICAL STATE WHERE TENSIONS DISAPPEARED THAT VISION OF AN EARTHLY PARADISE HAS NEVER EXISTED ANYWHERE. IN THIS ADN THE WORLD LIVED WITH A SENSE OF HARMONY. NEW COUNTRY WHICH A HARD DESTINY THREATENED TO TURN INTO A COMPLICATED OR A NEW STATE OF ESCAPE THE PERSECUTION OF MILENIA + YET IN DANGER OF LAPSING INTO GHETTO LIKE ISOLATION. THE NEW GHETTO A NEW TYPE OF LEADER EMERGED, QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THE TRADITIONAL IMAGE OF THE JEW AS A COSMOPOLITAN: THE PEASANT-HERO ROOTED IN THE SOIL, PRAGMATIC, MATTER-OF-FACT, MASKING AFRAID TO SHOW HIS EMOTIONS LEST HE LOSE CONTROL OVER HIS

3

FATE.

ALL OF THE ISRAELI LEADERS I HAVE KNOWN DAYAN

THE MOST INCARNATED INHERENT AMBIGUITY OF ISRAEL'S EXISTENCE:

THE TENSION BETWEEN THE DEMANDS OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE INDIVIDUALS HOPES, THE WILLINGNESS TO STRUGGLES FOR EXISTENCE AND THE ALMOST NAIVE STRIVING FOR A BLESSED STATE OF MIND.

HE WAS UNIQUE IN THE SWEEP OF HIS IMAGINATION, THE NIMBleness OF HIS INTELLECT, THE ABILITY TO PLACE ISRAEL IN A WORLD CONTEXT. HIS HOBBY WAS ARCHEOLOGY; THIS GAVE HIM AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE BEYOND EVEN THE LONG HISTORY OF HIS OWN PEOPLE. HE UNDERSTOOD THAT THE EXPERIENCE OF CATASTROPHE WAS NOT PECULIAR TO JEWS, EVEN IF DESTINY SEEMS TO HAVE METED IT OUT TO THEM MORE AMPLY THAN TO MOST OTHER PEOPLE. HE THEREFORE HAD MORE UNDERSTANDING, AND MORE TOLERANCE OF THE VIEWPOINTS OF OTHER SOCIETIES -- EXPECIALLY OF THE ARABS' -- THAN WAS CHARACTERISTIC OF MOST OF HIS COMPatriots. HE HAD THE INTUITION OF A POET.

4

AND COMPELLING INSIGHTS ILLUMINATED HIS MATTER-OF-FACT DISCOURSE; THEY WERE PUT FORWARD ALMOST TENTATIVELY FOR FEAR OF THE PASSION WHICH ANITA TOLD THEM MIGHT REVEAL A VULNERABILITY SOMETIMES THE MANIFOLDNESS OF HIS VISION IMPAIRED THE SINGLE-MINDEDNESS NECESSARY TO MASTER GREAT CRISES. STILL, ONE HAD THE SENSE THAT DAYAN WAS PRESERVING HIMSELF FOR THAT ULTIMATE GOAL OF MAKING THE CYCLES OF WAR PEACE. I HAD ALWAYS BELIED THAT DAYAN WAS THE ISRAELI STATESMAN MOST LIKELY TO LEAD ISRAEL TOWARD PEACE.

AND YET HE SEEMED TO HAVE A PREMONITION THAT THE INTENSITY OF HOPE IS NO GUARANTEE OF ITS FULFILLMENT. THIS MANY EXPLAIN HIS LIFE-LONG ABSORPTION WITH DEATH

BOTH THEIR SACRIFICE AND THEIR TRANSCENDANCE. THERE WAS ABOUT HIM A MELANCHOLY WHICH AFFIRMED THE POWER OF FAITH BUT ALSO THAT GOD HAS NOT VOUCHSAFED THE REALIZATION OF MAN'S HOPES IN A SINGLE LIFETIME. THE FATE OF THE DEFENDERS OF MASADA TRANSFIXED HIM. THE DEATHS OF MASADA, DAYAN AND HIS MOTHER HAD BEEN "THE VICTORY OF ISRAEL."

5

SOLDIER AWARE OF THE MEANING OF DEATH IN A COUNTRY
WHERE MELANCHONSHIP HAS BEEN ALL-FORGIVING.

AS THEY GO OUT TO BATTLE THAT THEY SHALL ARRIVE
AT THE GATES OF DEATH: THIS DEATH IS THE PRICE
FOR ENSURING THAT FUTURE OF THE NEXT GENERATION.
BUT WHILE ITS RESULTS ARE SEEN IN THE PUBLIC,
THE NATIONAL HISTORIC DOMAIN; THE CARRIER IS THE
INDIVIDUAL MAN, THE FIGHTING PERSON. ULTIMATELY
A MAN GOES OUT TO A BATTLE-UNTO-DEATH, NOT SO MUCH
IN ORDER TO ENJOY REDEPTION FOR OTHERS, NOR EVEN
TO SACRIFICE HIMSELF FOR THE FUTURE, BUT BECAUSE
PERSONALLY, HE DOES NOT WANT TO SURRENDER, TO BE
VANQUISHED. HE DOES NOT FIGHT FOR HIS LIFE
BUT FOR THE CONTENT OF THAT LIFE. DEATH, CONSEQUENTLY,
is MERELY THE MOST SUBLIME EXPRESSION OF THE VALOR
OF HIS STRIVING."

THESE WORDS WERE BOUND TO HAVE A SPECIAL MEANING IN A
COUNTRY WHERE NO CASULATY IS A STATISTIC WHERE EVERY

6

I HAD THE HONOR OF WORKING WITH HIM ON THE DISENGAGEMENT AGREEMENTS SIGNED BETWEEN ISRAEL AND EGYPT AND ISRAEL AND SYRRIA IN 1974. HE WAS INDEFATIGABLE AND EXTRAORDINARILY IMAGINATIVE. HIS MANNER STRUCK THE OUTSIDER AS SUPERCILIOUS. I CONSIDERED IT THE EXPRESSION OF A MAN OF FAITH WHO BUILT DEFENSES AGAINST REJECTION AND MISUNDERSTANDING. HE WAS GENTLE AND KIND IN THE FEW UNGUARDED MOMENTS HE PERMITTED HIMSELF.

DAYAN HAD A REPUTATION FOR OPPORTUNISM. IT WAS A MISAPPREHENSION. HE SAW MORE CHOICES THAN HIS CONTEMPORARIES. HE WAS TOO HONEST TO PRETEND TO SIMPLICITIES HIS WHOLE BEING REJECTED. HE UNDERSTOOD THE COMPLEXITY OF ISRAEL'S SURVIVAL AND HE KNEW THAT SIMPLE PERSISTENCE IN THE STATUS QUO WOULD GRADUALLY UNDERMINE ISRAEL'S EXISTENCE. SO MOSHE LIKE MOST PROPHETS WAS OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD BY HIS COMTEMPORARIES. HE WOULD TRY MANY AVENUES BUT HIS VISION WAS CONSTANT. HE WAS A FLEXIBLE

7

[y]

TACTICIAN BUT A FARSEEING STRATEGIST. HE WAS BRAVE,
ORIGINAL AND REALISTIC. CONFORMITY REPELLED HIM;
HE WAS INCAPABLE OF SURRENDERING TO CONVENTION. YET

IN VICTORY OR DEFEAT THERE WAS NEVER A FALSE NOTE. His very
physiognomy reflected his constant struggle!

> "....HE DEMONSTRATED WONDEROUR HEROISM AND WAS
> SO UNSPARING OF HIMSELF, EXPOSING HIS BODY IN
> BATTLE, THAT HE LOST ONE EYE...IT IS CUSTOMARY
> FOR MEN TO AVOID DISPLAYING ALL THE MEDALS OF
> THEIR VALOR...BUT HIS BADGE OF COURAGE SO STUCK
> TO HIM THAT ALL WHO SAW HIM WERE CONSTANTLY
> REMINDED OF HIS COURAGE."

WAR WAS DAYAN'S PROFESSION; PEACE WAS HIS OBSESSION.

IN JANUARY 1974 HE VISITED ME WITH HIS CONCEPT OF A
SANAI DISENGAGEMENT. HE BROUGHT WITH HIM A MAP
MORE GENEROUS THAN I HAD EXPECTED. HE TOLD ME IT WAS

8

THE BEST OFFER ISRAEL COULD MAKE; THE SUBJECT WAS TOO
IMPORTANT FOR HAGGLING: IF THERE WAS NOT A QUICK SOLUTION
THE OPPORTUNITY MIGHT DISAPPEAR. I SUGGESTED HE GIVE
ME A WORSE MAP SO THAT I WOULD NOT NEED TO PRESENT IT ON
A TAKE-IT-OR-LEAVE-IT BASIS. HE HAD NO STOMACH FOR IT;
WE SHOULD NOT WASTE TIME ON TACTICS. I BELIEVED HIM;
I DID NOT THINK HE WAS TRICKING ME. I KNEW HE HAD MADE
THE GREATEST CONCESSION POSSIBLE AND I DID NOT PRESS HIM
FOR MORE. WHEN I CAME TO ISRAEL HE INVITED ME TO HIS GARDEN
OF ARCHEOLOGICAL OBJECTS. HE WAS MYSTICALLY CONVINCED THE
EFFORT WOULD SUCCEED AND HE WAS PROVED RIGHT.

IT WAS DAYAN'S FATE THAT LIKE MOSES HE WAS
PERMITTED A GLIMPSE OF THE PROMISED LAND THAT IT WAS
NOT GIVEN TO HIM TO COMPETE HIS VISION.

AT THE PRECISE MOMENT MADE FOR HIS TALENTS HE
WAS OVERWHELMED BY THE PASSIONS OF THE WAR THAT HAD
AT LAST CREATED THE OPPORTUNITY. WHAT MADE HIS FATE
SO UNENDURABLE WAS THAT DAYAN, THE PREEMINENT VISIONARY

9

AMONG ISRAELI LEADERS, HAD FAILED TO RECOGNIZE HIS OWN PREDICTIONS WHEN THEY AT LAST CAME TRUE. FOR YEARS HE HAD WARNED THAT WAR WOULD BE INEVITABLE IF ISRAEL INSISTED ON REMAINING ALONG THE SUEZ CANAL. HE HAD FAVORED A DISENGAGEMENT OF FORCES, OR IF NECESSARY A UNILATERAL ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL TO CREATE A BUFFER ZONE.

HE HAD NEVER BEEN ABLE TO PERSUADE HIS CABINET COLLEAGUES WHO SIMPLY HAD NOT CATEGORY OF THROUGHT FOR UNILATERAL WITHDRAWALS. IF DAYAN'S FORESIGHT WAS VINDICATED BUT IN CIRCUMSTANCES THAT NEARLY DESTROYED HIM. THERE WERE A HOST OF EXPLANATIONS FOR HIS FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE THAT THE VERY ATTACK HE HAD BEEN WARNING AGAINST WAS IMMINENT:

~~MYSELF INCLUDED~~ -

MANY OTHERS HAD DRAWN THE SAME WRONG CONCLUSIONS ABOUT EGYPT'S INTENTIONS. BUT HEROES LOSE SOMETHING OF THEIR FAITH IN THEMSELVES WHEN THEY Exhibit fallibility.

DAYAN AFTER 1973 WAS NEVER QUITE THE SAME. HE WAS TOO CLOSE TO HIS DREAM OF BECOMING THE PRIME MINSITER OF PEACE TO LET THAT DREAM GO AND YET TOO FAR FROM HIS DESTINY TO BE ABLE TO GRASP IT BY AN ACT OF WILL. HE

10

DREAM WAS SUSPENDED BETWEEN HIS AMBITION AND HIS PREMONITION, PROUD GRASP TOO BIG TO ATTACK, TOO INSECURE TO WITHDRAW, TOO SURE THAT THIS WAS HIS HOUR TO ADMIT THAT IT WAS THE WRONG MOMENT AND THEREBY PERHAPS PRESERVE HIMSELF FOR HIS ULTIMATE MISSION.

SO FOR THREE PAINFUL YEARS HE WATCHED FROM THE SIDELINES AND THEN HE RETUREND IN 1977 FOR ONE MORE HEROIC ASSAULT ON THE PROMISED LAND. OF PEACE HISTORY WILL RECORD HIM AS A PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT OF THE PEACE TREATY WITH EGYPT. HE CONDUCTED THE PRELIMINARY NEGOTIATIONS IN MOROCCO WHICH GAVE SADAT THE COURAGE TO RISK THE TRIP TO JERUSALEM. AND HE WAS A MAJOR FRAMER OF THE CAMP DAVID ACCORDS. ONCE MORE HE REACHED THE VISION OF THE PROMISED LAND AND ONCE

DESTINY IS WISE IN NOT REMITTING MORE IT WAS NOT GIVEN TO HIM TO COMPLETE THE JOURNEY. PERHAPS GOD WILL'S THAT THE GREATEST INSPIRATIONS ARE TO BE IMPLEMENTED BY THEIR AUTHOR TO PRESERVE ALL WHO KNEW MOSHE DAYAN RECOGNIZE THAT HIS ULTIMATE DREAM WAS THE RECONCILIATION BETWEEN ARABS AND JEWS. HE SOUGHT A PERHAPS UTOPIAN SOLUTION WHERE ISRAELI'S AND

11

ARABS COULD LIVE TOGETHER ON THE WEST BACK ON THE
BASIS OF MUTUAL RESPECT WITH NEITHER SIDE DOMINATING
THE OTHER.

HE DID NOT LIVE TO SEE THAT GOAL ACHIEVED. AND YET
IT IS THE MEANING OF PROPHETS TO HOLD BEFORE US A VISION
TO ENNOBLE AND INSPIRE US. DAYAN WAS LONELY BECAUSE HIS
SPIRIT WAS GREAT; HE WAS INSPIRED BY SETTING DISTANT GOALS;
HE REMINDED US THAT EVERY GREAT ACHIEVEMENT WAS A DREAM
BEFORE IT BECAME A REALITY.

DAYAN WAS SOMETIES IMPATIENT WITH THE GREAT ALLY WHOSE
ACTIONS WERE SO CRITICAL FOR HIS COUNTRY'S FUTURE. BUT
HE NEVER FORGOT THE IMPORTANCE OF CLOSE COOPERATION BASED
ON A REAL MEETING OF MINDS. IT IS A LESSON WE MUST NOT
FORGET AT THIS MOMENT WHEN OUR TWO COUNTRIES ARE NEITHER
QUARRELING NOR REALLY UNDERSTANDING EACH OTHER.

MOSHE DAYAN WAS A FRIEND OF ALL TIME. IMMORTALITY IS TO SET
TASKS OTHER GENERATIONS CANNOT IGNORE. NONE OF US WILL
FORGET THIS GRACEFUL, BRAVE, AND DEDICATED STATESMAN.

12

WHEN PEACE COMES AT LAST TO HIS TROUBLED AREA, IT WILL
BE COMPOSED IN EQUAL PARTS OF HIS COURAGE AND HIS

MAGNANIMITY.
MAGNIFICANCY. AND WE WILL CONSOLE OURSELVES ABOUT HIS

LOSS BY REMINDING OURSELVES THAT THE LEAD TIME FOR
PROPHETS HAS SHRUNK. SO WE WILL PRAY THAT HIS DREAM
WILL BE REALIZED IF NOT IN HIS LIFETIME THAN IN OURS.

AND MEANWHILE HAVING KNOWN AMOSHE
AND WORKET WITH HIM WILL BE OUR
BUDGE OF HONOR.

MOSHE DAYAN LIFE REFLECTS THE HISTORY OF THE ISRAELI PEOPLE. HE PARTICIPATED IN EVERY KEY EVENT OF THE YOUNG STATE. HE WAS INVOLVED IN ALL OF ISRAEL'S WARS. HE PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN ALL ITS TRUCES AND CEASEFIRES. HE INSPIRED AND HELPED NEGOTIATE ITS PEACE TREATIES. HE PARTICIPATED IN THE SPLITS AND RECONCILIATIONS WHICH MARK ISRAEL'S POLITICAL LIFE. AS MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE THAT RESTLESS INTELLECT EVEN INTRODUCED THE FIRST MECHANICALLY HARVESTABLE TOMATOES. HE WAS A LEADER FOR LONGER THAN BEN GURION, HIS ORIGIANAL MENTOR, OF GOLDA MEIR HIS LATER PATRON AND FRIEND OR MENACHEM BEGIN HIS LAST PRIME MINISTER. MORE THAN ANY OTHER ISRAELI HE INCARNATED THE DREAMS, THE STRENGTHS, THE TOUGHNESS AND THE YEARNINGS OF HIS PEOPLE.

2

[Y]

ECONOMIC
FRONTIERS OF ISRAEL
ADVERSARIES ON ALL JUNCTIONS, ISRAEL'S FOREIGN POLICY
HAD BECOME UNDISTINGUISHABLE FROM ITS DEFENSE POLICY.

THE
ITS CARDINAL OBJECTIVE WAS WHAT FOR OTHER NATIONS IS THE
STARTING POINT OF FOREIGN POLICY - ACCEPTANCE BY ITS
NEIGHBORS OF ITS RIGHT TO EXIST.

ISRAEL YEARNED FOR PEACE AND IT STROVE FOR SECURITY.
ITS MARGIN FOR SURVIVAL WAS SO NARROW THAT IT COULD RISK
NO EXPERIMENTS; ITS YEARNING FOR ACCEPTANCE WAS SO
OVERWHELMING THAT PEACE ACHIEVED AN ALMOST MYTHICAL
A BIBLICAL STATE WHERE TENSIONS

QUALITY, IN THIS GHETTO OF A COUNTRY SECURITY GAME
WHICH A HARD
DEBTINY THREATENS TO
TO BE THE DOMINANT CONCERN. A NEW TYPE OF LEADER
EMERGED QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THE TRADITIONAL IMAGE OF
THE JEW AS A COSMOPOLITAN: THE PEASANT-HERO ROOTED IN
THE SOIL, PRAGMATIC, MATTER-OF-FACT, AFRAID TO SHOW HIS
EMOTIONS LEST HE LOSE CONTROL OVER HIS DESTINY.

OVER HIS
FATE
OF ALL THE ISRAELI LEADERS I HAVE KNOWN DAYAN BEST
INCARNATED
TRANSCENDED THIS INHERENT AMBIGUITY OF ISRAEL'S EXISTENCE. THE

4

IT WAS DAYAN'S TRAGEDY THAT LIKE MOSES HE WAS PERMITTED A GLIMPSE OF THE PROMISED LAND BUT THE JOURNEY TO THAT

MOUNTAIN TOP HAD DEPRIVED HIM OF THE ABILITY TO IMPLEMENT

HIS OWN VISION. HE FELT

AND UNLIKE MANY OF HIS

COMPATRIOTS THE INTENSIVY OF HOPE IS NO GUARANTEE OF ITS

FULTILLMENT. THIS MAY EXPLAIN HIS LIFE-LONG PREMINITION

OF DEATH (THE FATE OF THE DEFENDERS OF MASADA TRANSFIXED

HIM, THERE WAS ABOUT HIM A MELANCHOLY WHICH COULD NEVER

SUPPRESS THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE DEATHS OF MASADA HAD BEEN

"THE VICTORY OF THE VANQUISHED," AND HE WAS THE GENERAL OF
ARMIES OF A SMALL COUNTRY IN WHICH EVERY VICTIM WAS A

PERSONAL, FAMILY LOSS. AND SO HE WROTE:

FOR ENSURING THAT FUTURIE OF THE NEXT GENERATION.

BUT WHILE ITS RESULTS ARE SEEN IN THE PUBLIC, THE
NATIONAL AND HISTORIC DOMAIN; THE CARRIER IS THE

6

HE UNDERSTOOD THE COMPLEXITY OF ISRAEL'S SURVIVAL AND HE KNEW THAT SIMPLE PERSISTENCE IN THE STATUS QUO WOULD GRADUALLY UNDERMINE ISRAEL'S EXISTENCE. SO MOSHE LIKE MOST PROPHETS WAS OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD BY HIS CONTEMPORARIES. HE WOULD TRY MANY AVENUES BUT HIS VISION WAS CONSTANT. HE WAS A FLEXIBLE TACTICIAN BUT A FARSEEING STRATEGIST. HE WAS BRAVE, ORIGINAL AND REALISTIC. CONFORMITY REPELLED HIM, HE WAS INCAPABLE OF SURRENDERING TO CONVENTION. YET IN VICTORY OR DEFEAT THERE WAS NEVER A FALSE NOTE. THE WORDS OF PLUTARCH ABOUT SERTOLUS APPLIED AS WELL TO MOSHE DAYAN:

> "....HE DEMONSTRATED WONDEROUS HEROISM AND WAS SO UNSPARING OF HIMSELF, EXPOSING HIS BODY IN BATTLE, THAT HE LOST ONE EYE...IT IS CUSTOMARY FOR MEN TO AVOID DISPLAYING ALL THE MEDALS OF THEIR VALOR...BUT HIS BADGE OF COURAGE SO STUCK TO HIM THAT ALL WHO SAW HIM WERE CONSTANTLY REMINDED OF HIS COURAGE."

7

A WAR WAS HIS PROFESSION; PEACE WAS DAYAN'S OBSESSION. HE VISITED ME IN JANUARY 1974 WITH HIS CONCEPT OF A SINAI DISENGAGEMENT. HE BROUGHT WITH HIM A MAP MORE GENEROUS THAN I HAD EXPECTED. HE TOLD ME IT WAS THE BEST OFFER ISRAEL COULD MAKE: THE SUBJECT WAS THE ~~TOO~~ FOR

IMPORTANT HAGGLING: IF THERE WAS NOT A QUICK SOLUTION THE OPPORTUNITY MIGHT DISAPPEAR. I SUGGESTED HE GIVE ME A WORSE MAP SO THAT IC WOULD NOT NEED TO PRESENT IT ON A TAKE-IT-OR-LEAVE-IT BASIS. HE HAD NO STOMACH FOR IT; I BELIEVED him. I DID NOT think I was working with ISRAEL HE INVITED ME TO HIS GARDEN OF ARCHEOLOGICAL OBJECTS. HE WAS MYSTICALLY CONVINCED THE EFFORT WOULD SUCCEED AND HE WAS PROVED RIGHT.

AND YET THE TRAGEDY WAS THAT HE WAS THEN NOT PERMITTED TO GO BEYOND THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS PEACE.
BY JONATHAN AT THE PRECISE MOMENT MADE FOR HIS TALENTS HE WAS OVERWHELMED BY THE PASSIONS OF THE WAR. It had at last created the opportunity.

8

PREEMINENT VISIONARY AMONG ISRAELI LEADERS, FAILED TO RECOGNIZE HIS OWN PREDICTIONS WHEN THEY AT LAST CAME TRUE. FOR YEARS HE HAD WARNED THAT WAR WOULD BE INEVITABLE IF ISRAEL INSISTED ON REMAINING ALONG THE SUEZ CANAL. HE HAD FAVORED DISENGAGEMENT OF FORCES, OR IF NECESSARY A UNILATERAL ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL TO CREATE A BUFFER ZONE. HE HAD NEVER BEEN ABLE TO PERSUADE HIS CABINET COLLEAGUES, WHO WIMPLY HAD NO CATEGORY OF THOUGHT FOR UNILATERAL WITHDRAWALS. DAYAN'S FORESIGHT WAS VINDICATED BUT IN CIRCUMSTANCES THAT NEARLY DESTROYED HIM. THERE WERE A HOST OF EXPLANATIONS FOR HIS FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE THAT THE VERY ATTACK HE HAD BEEN WARNING AGAINST WAS IMMINENT: MANY OTHERS HAD DRAWN THE SAME WRONG CONCLUSIONS ABOUT EGYPT'S INTENTIONS. BUT HEROES LOSE SOMETHING OF THEIR FAITH IN THENSELVES WHEN THEY ADMIT FALLIBILITY.

9

HE WAS TOO CLOSE TO HIS DREAM OF BECOMING THE PRIME
MINISTER OF PEACE TO LET THAT DREAM GO AND YET TOO FAR
FROM HIS DESTINY TO BE ABLE TO GRASP IT BY AN ACT OF WILL.

HE HAD NEITHER REACHED THE PINNACLE AS HAD COLDA, FOR
WHOM THE LENGTH OF HER STAY ON IT HAD BECOME IRRELEVANT,
NOR HAD HE FALLEN INTO THE ABYSS LIKE ELAZAR. HE WAS
SUSPENDED BETWEEN HIS AMBITION AND HIS PREMONITION, TOO BIG
TO ATTACK, TOO INSECURE TO WITHDRAW, TOO SURE THAT THIS
WAS HIS HOUR TO ADMIT THAT IT WAS THE WRONG MOMENT AND
THEREBY PERHAPS PRESERVE HIMSELF FOR HIS ULTIMATE MISSION.

SO FOR THREE PAINFUL YEARS HE WATCHED FROM THE SIDELINES
AND THEN HE RETURNED IN 1977 FOR ONE MORE HEROIC
ASSAULT ON THE PROMISED LAND OF PEACE. HISTORY WILL
RECORD HIM AS A PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT OF THE PEACE TREATY
WITH EGYPT. HE CONDUCTED THE PRELIMINARY NEGOTIATIONS
IN MOROCCO WHICH GAVE SADAT THE COURAGE TO RISK THE TRIP
TO JERUSALEM. AND HE WAS A MAJOR FRAMER OF THE CAMP
DAVID ACCORDS.

10

[y]

ONCE MORE HE REACHED THE OF THE PROMISED LAND
AND ONCE MORE IT WAS NOT GIVEN TO HIM TO COMPLETE THE
JOURNEY. ALL WHO KNEW MOSHE DAYAN RECOGNIZE THAT HIS
ULTIMATE DREAM WAS THE RECONCILIATION BETWEEN ARABS AND JEWS.
HE SOUGHT A PERHAPS UTOPIAN SOLUTION WHERE ISRAELIS
AND ARABS COULD LIVE TOGETHER ON THE WEST BANK ON THE
BASIS OF MUTUAL RESPECT AND WITH NEITHER SIDE DOMINATING
THE OTHER.

HE DID NOT LIVE TO SEE THAT GOAL ACHIEVED. AND YET IT
IS THE MEANING OF PROPHETS TO HOLD BEFORE US A MISSION
TO ENABLE AND INSPIRE US. DAYAN WAS LONELY BECAUSE HIS
SPIRIT WAS GREAT; DAYAN WAS QUESTING BECAUSE HIS GOALS
WERE REAL. HE WAS INSPIRED BY SETTING DISTANT GOALS; US
THAT EVERY GREAT ACHIEVEMENT WAS A DREAM BEFORE IT BECAME A
REALITY.