Day an Says He Will Not Resign

Defense Minister Moshe Dayan declared last night that he would not resign under pressure from his critics but neither would he serve in a new government unless he had its fullest confidence. Addressing military correspondents here, he spoke in reply to recent public demonstrations urging him to resign on grounds that he was responsible for Israel’s military deficiencies at the outset of the Yom, Kippur War. Dayan said he believed in the principle of ministerial responsibility but that if he resigned now he would be confessing guilt on the part of Israel’s defense establishment that has yet to be established by the committee investigating the conduct of the war.

Dayan recalled that twice during the war he had offered his resignation to Premier Golda Meir who twice rejected it. He said he would enter a new Cabinet only if “I feel those responsible for my appointment are convinced that I can do the job better than anyone else…not as a result of pressures and circumstances….If the Prime Minister does not call on me, I shall not be angry. I shall be angry if she approaches me even though she may think I am not the man for the job,” Dayan said. He added, “I know Golda. She won’t do that.”