Israeli newspapers today detected a note of politics in yesterday’s decision by the Cabinet to transfer responsibility for civilian affairs in the occupied territories from the military government to the various ministries concerned.
The Hebrew daily Haaretz and the English-language Jerusalem Post said it will be widely believed that the decision by Prime Minister Levi Eshkol was aimed at Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, although Gen. Dayan apparently concurred in it. They said the move was evidence of “political jockeying” in the struggle for leadership inside the dominant Israel Labor Party.
Gen. Dayan, whose ministry is directly concerned with the operations of the military governments, has been making personal calls on Arab dignitaries in the occupied territories in recent days and is credited with having eased tensions there. Haaretz commented that Minister of Interior Moshe Shapiro, for example, might not have had the same influence on the Arab leaders in Nablus as Gen. Dayan “who soothed a dangerous mood in that town two days ago.” The paper suggested that even if Mr. Shapiro used the same words and same approach as Gen. Dayan, “the question was one of personalities as well as approach.”
Gen. Dayan is continuing his goodwill visits to Arab leaders in the West Bank region. On Sunday he met with the mayors of townships in the Bethlehem area and asked for their cooperation in combatting both Arab terrorism and Jewish hooliganism. Gen. Dayan condemned the rowdies who stoned Arab cars following recent terrorist bomb explosions in downtown Jerusalem and at the Tel Aviv bus terminal. He said that these elements were abetting the terrorists whose aim was to sow discord between Arabs and Jews.
The Arab mayors reportedly dissociated themselves from acts of sabotage and terrorism. They said that a sense of security prevails in their areas. Over the weekend Gen. Dayan conferred with the mayor of Nablus and is credited with having persuaded him to withdraw the resignation he had submitted in protest against the Israeli policy of demolishing houses that are used or owned by terrorists.
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