Gen. Moshe Dayan, Israel’s Defense Minister, said in an interview taped for television here that he felt he was nearing the end of his political career. Dayan, who was called to the Defense post on the eve of the 1967 Six-Day War, has often been mentioned as a possible successor to Premier Golda Meir. Opinion polls taken in Israel have indicated that he was the top choice for the job.
In the interview, to be broadcast tomorrow night following one with King Hussein of Jordan, Dayan revealed his personal feelings on war and peace and on being a Jew. He said that while war is evil “at the same time it is very exciting as a human experience.” He admitted, however, that “by winning a war–and we can win the next one–all you manage to do is not to be killed but you don’t solve any problems.” He said he “preferred the company of soldiers to the company of politicians.”
Dayan said, “I am not a religious man. I don’t go to a synagogue and I don’t pray. I drive on Saturday. Nevertheless, I am a good Jew. I am very Jewish. I feel closer to the Jews in Miami than to any Arab or gentile right here.” Dayan said most Israelis did not consider the Suez Canal as Israel’s final boundary. “We don’t want a big Israel from Mesopotamia to the Nile. This is nonsense,” he said. “But I think we shall have to adjust our boundaries and that we shall not go back to the 1967 lines.”
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.
