Premier David Ben Gurion supported last night the outspoken views of Brig. Moshe Dayan, former Israel Army Chief of Staff, who has been preaching a tightening of Israel’s belt and a lowering of living standards if necessary to speed the country’s basic development. In an unusual emphasis at a Mapai Party leaders “ideological conference” at Kfar Saba, Mr. Ben Gurion appealed for respect for Brig. Dayan.
The Premier’s intervention came after criticism by a number of Mapai top level officials against Gen. Dayan. Currently a student at the Hebrew University, the general has recently addressed students, calling on pioneering and other youth groups for self-sacrifice to speed the country’s industrialization and agricultural expansion pace. Brig. Dayan has asserted that even if unemployment results from a change of economic direction in the country, it is not too high a price to pay for basic industrialization, which he views as a necessity for security and for the acceptance of more immigrants.
Dr. Giora Josephthal, general secretary of the Labor Party and a spokesman for the forces opposing Brig. Dayan, decried the “tough-hearted” approach to the problem of unemployment. “There is no greater social calamity than unemployment,” Dr. Josephthal declared, “for unemployment leads to a degeneration of public life.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
