Moshe Dayan

Moshe Dayan was a fighter and soldier, statesman and writer. Born in 1915 in the Degania A group to his father Shmuel and mother Dvora—one of the central agricultural figures and leaders of the labor movement in Palestine. He was educated and raised in Nahalal. He started his journey as a soldier in his youth, when he joined the first first Plugot Hasade unit, which operated from 1936 to 1939. One of the trainees of the famous Orde Wingate, who did much to initiate war against the armed Arab gangs and in special night operations, which earned him a reputation. Moshe Dayan was among the 43 trainees and instructors in the Haganah who were arrested by the British and imprisoned in Acre prison until 1941. Upon his release, he joined the first units of the Palmach. In an operation in Syria in 1941, organized by the British against the Vichyh forces there, Dayan was wounded and lost his left eye. After recovering, he returned to his home in Nahalal. At the outbreak of the open struggle of the Jewish community in Palestine against the British Mandate rule, a struggle that developed into the War of Independence and the Insurrection, Dayan returned to active service in the Haganah. He commanded the forces in the Degania sector, which was attacked by the Syrians, and also operated in other sectors. In 1949, he represented the IDF in the negotiations for the armistice in Rhodes. He was appointed Major General of the Southern Command and the Northern Command, Head of the IDF and Chief of Staff. He contributed greatly to shaping the image of the IDF, to the use of training methods and methods of warfare and complex operations against infiltrators and terrorist-lecturers, who endangered the security and well-being of Israel. In 1956, he commanded Operation Kadesh. Upon his release from the IDF, he began political activity. He was Minister of Agriculture. He resigned from the government in 1964 following the establishment of the Rafi (Israeli National Liberation Front). At the outbreak of the Six-Day War (June 1967) was appointed Minister of Defense, and at the end of the war he led the Open Bridges policy. He was sharply criticized for his role in the Yom Kippur War and its failures (1973), and in early June 1974 he resigned from his post. In June 1977 he joined the Likud government headed by Menaḥem Begin (head of Herut) and was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel. He developed extensive political activity and was one of the architects of the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel that was signed at Camp David. Due to differences of opinion, Dayan resigned from the Likud government and in the elections for the Tenth Knesset ran on a separate list, but won only two mandates (seats in the Knesset). Disappointed and in pain, he struggled severely with headaches and the cancer that was discovered in his body. He died in 1981 and was laid to rest in the land of Nahalal.