Former foreign Minister Moshe Dayan called in effect today for early elections. “The time has come for us to send the ball back to the people’s court and have them decide whom they want as their leaders and what course they want these leaders to take,” Dayan told the graduating class at Haifa University in a commencement address.
Dayan, who resigned from Premier Menachem Begin’s Likud-led Cabinet last Oct. 22, said “There is an increasing gap between the government and the people and therefore the government should go to the public so that it may elect its representatives. You may elect whomever you may, but it is essential that there is confidence between the people and the government,” he said.
Dayan saw few differences between Likud and its chief opposition, the Labor Party, on basic issues. He noted that both parties agree there must not be a Palestinian state; both agree that Israel’s army must be deployed along the Jordan River. He said that even on the explosive issue of settlements on the West Bank, the disagreements between Labor and Likud involve only a few controversial settlements. He pointed out that the first Gush Emunim settlements were established while the Labor government was in power.
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.
