his apparent tendency to talk straight from the heart, to tell people exactly what he thinks, without tactful embellishment. This is a soldierly trait, and indeed Dayan is terse and reasonable in his speech, detests exaggeration, always gets to the point in the shortest possible time. Unfortunately, this has nothing at all to do with sincerity. Moshe Dayan just never says what he really thinks. He neither tells the truth nor lies. Truth and falsehood are quite irrelevant in his words, which are not intended to reflect any reality, objective or subjective. Dayan uses words as any other weapon, in order to achieve, at any given moment, what he wants to achieve.
Old Zionist leaders, brought up in a different tradition, are upset by this trait. After the war, the old Mapam leader Meir Yaari publicly accused Dayan of misleading him. He said his party would never have agreed to Dayan's inclusion in the government if Dayan had not convinced him he was opposed to any offensive action against the Arabs. Of course, there was no connection whatsoever between such a statement, probably made by Dayan in his usual straightforward tone, and what he really thought. He certainly did not intend to become Defense Minister in order to hold parades, but if he had to assure Meir Yaari of his peacefulness in order to capture this central seat of power, the Ministry of Defense, such assurance was forthcoming. He wouldn't have dreamed of telling Meir Yaari his genuine thinking-any more than he would have told Abd-el-Nasser himself. Of course, politicians throughout the world are used to using words to hide their thoughts, but generally there is a system to it. With Dayan, it is quite a different phenomenon-a deeper urge to hide whatever he thinks, whether such deception is necessary or not.
This trait, the lack of any respect for words is the result of another more profound characteristic, which may be the key to his whole personality: complete lack of communication with his fellow man. This is the source of both