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.”
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.
