Moshe Dayan

In this major re-evaluation of Moshe Dayan's life and career, Eitan Shamir examines one of the most influential individuals in the history of modern Israel. As IDF Chief of Staff, theatre commander during the Sinai campaign and defence minister during the Six Days and Yom Kippur Wars, Dayan shaped Israeli history as well as the principles of Israel's security and foreign affairs. Eitan Shamir explores the basis and justification for Dayan's reputation as a strategist and what made his command and leadership unique. He reveals the ways in which Moshe Dayan led and planned his campaigns, how he made his decisions and his style as a general and a strategist. His findings shed important new light on broader issues of military command and culture, political-military relations, insurgency and counterinsurgency and the relations between small states and large powers, drawing lasting lessons for strategy today.

Eitan Shamir is a professor in the Political Studies Department at Bar Ilan University and serves as the Managing Director of the Begin Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA Center). He is author of the 'Art of Military Innovation: Lessons from the IDF' with Edward Luttwak.