In her (justified) attack on the incompetence of Ehud Olmert during the current war (see My Obiter Dicta's latest posts), Dr. Judith Klinghoffer compares him to Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 to 1969, including the Six-Day War. Here Klinghoffer relies on the popular, selective, memory, which remembers Eshkol as a stammering, hesitant, leader, the wrong person at the wrong time, only to be saved by the dashing Dayan who went on to win the war. Like most popular recollections based on fear and innuendo, it is an inaccuracy filled with half-truths. Dayan certainly got all the glory for the victory, but he did not deserve all the credit. Even Rabin later admitted that Eshkol had been done a disservice by the character assassination done to him before, during and after the war, a tradition which Klinghoffer unfortunately continues. Recent research has demonstrated that Eshkol was far wiser and more resilient than he is given credit for. I highly recommend reading Dr. Michael Oren's article on Eshkol (free reg' reqd.), which puts Eshkol's performance in its proper place. We can only hope that more such articles will help rehabilitate Eshkol's reputation based on historical facts rather than skewed popular images.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment