Source: Foreign Policy
by Robert Zaretsky
“On April 30, 1956, the commander of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Moshe Dayan, spoke at the funeral of Roi Rotberg. A young man in charge of security at the Gaza border settlement of Nahal Oz, Rotberg had been murdered and mutilated by Palestinian fedayeen. Dayan, who had met Rotberg a few days earlier and was impressed by his youth and courage, quickly drafted a eulogy that, in the original Hebrew, runs just 285 words. Nearly the same length of Abraham Lincoln’s 272-word address at Gettysburg, Dayan’s speech has assumed nearly the same foundational role in his own nation’s self-understanding.” (04/30/26)