has been a real Dayan family. The house in Zahala, so often photographed lately for the American press, is more like a federation of rooms than a family house. Before Moshe's children married, each of the family members lived in his own room, coming and going as he wanted, conducting his own affairs, rarely meeting the others at regular times; only the elderly maid, who became the center of the family, created a kind of contact among them. One of the Dayan boys used to lock his room when he went out.
If Dayan has never had a family life, hero-worshippers may see this as a sign of the superman. As his daughter sees it, "He put himself at the disposal of the nation.... Even though he is not a model father, there is no doubt that he gave us the strength and the wisdom to understand that this is a small price to pay for his service to the country." Thus, the image of the hero: the man who holds small things in contempt, neither smokes nor drinks, always dresses in shapeless clothes, doesn't know what good food is, sacrifices his private life for the common good, once telling his daughter, "If I had to live my life again, I would not have had a family." A psychologist might explain this behavior differently: The eternal adolescent, too much attached to his mother, who cut himself off from all contact with people and suppressed all his emotions, is also unable to lead an ordinary family life. Indeed, all his contacts with people, men and women, are hit-and-run encounters, perhaps a momentary longing for some human relating, and an immediate escape therefrom.
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In Israel, as in any other country, there are many people who aspire to political power. Young politicians often distinguish themselves by an ardent desire to reach the top as quickly as possible. At least half a dozen talented young men-ex-General Yigal Allon, ex-Chief of Staff Professor Yigael Yadin, Ben-Gurion's protege Shimon Peres, Foreign