We will discuss “Warrior Statesman: The Life of Moshe Dayan” by Robert Slater.
Moshe Dayan was, for years, Mr. Israel to the world at large. With his determined glare from his one remaining eye, made all the more persuasive by his famous black eyepatch, he led Israel to its military and political dominance in the Middle East during the 1960s and 1970s. As the prowess and accomplishments of his troops grew, so did Dayan’s stature, appetites, and ego: he was always a man who spoke his mind and followed his convictions. His roles as commander in the Six-Day War (1967) and the Yom Kippur War (1973) were as pivotal in Israeli and world history as his participation in the Camp David Peace Accords that resulted in the landmark treaty between Egypt and Israel. Dayan has not been treated kindly by previous biographers (particularly his children’s accounts, like Yael Dayan’s My Father, His Daughter , LJ 10/1/85); however, Slater has undertaken to portray Dayan as a man of destiny, vision, and all-too-human flaws.
