Major General Moshe Dayan, Chief of Staff of the Israel Army, who is now on a visit to this country, paid an official visit to the Pentagon where he was received by Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway, Chief of Staff of the U. S. Army, and was a guest at a luncheon tendered by Gen. Charles L. Bolte, Vice-Chief of Staff.
Gen. Dayan, accompanied by Ambassador Abba Eban and Israel Minister Plenipotentiary Reuven Shiloah, also visited the State Department and met with Assistant Secretary of State Henry A. Byroade for 90 minutes. Asked later by reporters whether he was in Washington as an official guest of the United States Government, Gen. Dayan said in effect that, while the U.S. Government did not take the initiative in inviting him to America, it did grant his request to visit certain military installations.
He said he had asked permission to come and see these installations and Army schools, and that everything he asked in that connection was granted. Asked if he was satisfied with the reception he received in Washington, the General replied: “Very much so.”
(From Jerusalem it was reported today that the Israel Government informed Gen. Dayan as well as the U. S. Government that the Israel Chief of Staff will, during his stay in the United States, pay for all his expenses, including for the rooms at the military installations which have been reserved for him.)
Gen. Dayan’s reception in Washington has been viewed in contrast with the more enthusiastic recent reception tendered to the Iraqi Chief of Staff, Gen. Mohammed Arif, who served on the Nazi side during World War II, when he participated in pro-Nazi military action in 1941. Gen. Arif was decorated with the U.S. Legion of Merit, praised by the Defense Department in an official citation, and transported by military aircraft. Gen. Dayan received neither medal nor official commendation, and was advised to travel by commercial aircraft.
At a dinner tendered Gen. Dayan by Ambassador Eban, Mr. Byroade welcomed the general and expressed the hope that, apart from the immediate objectives of his visit to this country, his stay here would help to indicate the friendly feelings of the American people. Top diplomatic and military personalities attended the dinner.
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