Former Defense Minister Moshe Dayan left on a ten-day fundraising tour in the U.S. this morning but was back at Ben Gurion Airport a few minutes after take off. A malfunctioning engine and two blown-out tires forced his commercial Jumbo jet to return for repairs. The giant plane skidded to a landing but no one was hurt.
Dayan, who is accompanied by his wife, told reporters that he and Mrs. Dayan have been invited to lunch with Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger in Washington but that he planned no other official functions in the U.S. He said that now that he is out of office for the first time in seven years, he wanted to get to know the Jewish people better. “I have been too busy in the past few years to really know my people and I plan to go to places like Iran, South Africa and South America to make contacts with the Jewish people, especially the youth,” he said. He said he would be touring the U.S. on behalf of the Israel Bond Organization.
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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.