Moshe Dayan on born on a kibbutz near the Sea of Galilee in 1915. When he was 14, he joined the outlawed Haganah, an underground defense force to protect Jewish settlements from Arab attacks. Although caught and imprisoned by the British for two years, he would fight for them in Lebanon during WWII, losing his eye. In the 1948 War of Independence, he fought on all the fronts, defending Israel; by 1953 he was Chief of Staff of the Israeli Armed Forces. In 1956 he led the Suez Campaign.
In 1967 he was Defense Minister for the Six Day War. He remained in that position through the War of 1973. Although a genuine hero in every sense of the word, he was held responsible for the initial success of Egyptian forces in the surprise attack on Yom Kippur (1973), and would resign from his position.
Israel is too small of a country, and its enemies too numerous, for any miscalculations regarding its security.
reprinted from April 2010
ADDENDUM OCTOBER 12, 2023: Fifty years later and again another former Israeli hero, Benjamin Netanyahu, would underestimate an enemy. He did however correctly predict earlier this week that as Israel confronted Hamas for their murderous attack, world opinion would shift against Israel. Going after embedded Hamas in populated Gaza City is messy, but there is no other way to confront that enemy.
The people of Gaza voted Hamas into office in the first free and fair election after the Israel pull out years ago. They knew exactly who and what Hamas was when they did it.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely agree that it will be messy, but it is both necessary and overdue.
ReplyDeleteFor those who say they “Stand with Israel”, the time to stand by them will be when the usual haters of Israel start trying to whip world opinion against the Israelis.
Hamas (and Hezbollah) attacks against Israel have been tolerated by the world for far too long. It’s time to support solving the problem instead of ignoring it.