Transitions

Yael Dayan, novelist daughter of the legendary Moshe Dayan and? a public figure with a long and illustrious political career behind her, looks back at her life, scrutinizing it without illusions. Once a desirable, free-spirited young woman and a successful author, she lived with the sense that she held the world in the palm of her hand. And the world adulated both her and the young state she came from. She was an officer in the Israel Defense Force, the daughter of a renowned general, a successful writer—Death Had Two Sons, A Soldier’s Diary: Sinai 1967—much in demand on the lecture tour, and a star of the gossip columns. Now in her 70s, she admits with touching honesty to missing both the vibrant 20-something she was, and the sober woman she became—a fierce political activist and parliamentarian for the left, a fighter for justice, women’s rights and peace. Having resigned her last public position, she must reconcile herself to being a mentor, a participant instead of a leader, yet remaining center-stage on the Peace Camp scene. The narrator’s warm, intimate voice and her rich intellect, as well as her insights, make for a powerful reading experience.

Yael Dayan served as a member of the Israeli Knesset between 1992 and 2003, and from 2008 to 2013 was the chair of Tel Aviv city council. She was an officer in the Israel Defense Force and made a name for herself as an author and newspaper columnist, writing columns for Yedioth Ahronoth, Ma'ariv, Al HaMishmar and Davar.She has published five novels as well as a memoir of the Six-Day War called Israel Journal: June 1967 and a biography of her father called My Father.