1939 -
Israeli writer and civil rights activist.
Yael (also Yaʿel) Dayan was born in Afula to Moshe Dayan, who later became chief of staff of the Israel Defense Force (IDF) and defense and foreign minister, and Rahel (also Rachel) Dayan, a well-known social activist specializing in immigrant absorption. Yael studied international relations at the Hebrew University and biology at the Open University. She served as an officer in the IDF Spokesman Unit and covered the June War of 1967 in that capacity. There she met her husband, General Dov Sion (1924 - 2003). In the 1980s, already a well-established author and commentator on public issues, she entered politics and was elected to the Knesset in 1992 as a Labor Party member. Her three terms in the Knesset were marked by intensive and outspoken attempts to promote the rights of minority groups, chief among them Israeli Arabs, gays, and lesbians. She was also active in Arab-Israeli peace causes and was involved in various efforts to intensify rapprochement between the two peoples after the signing of the September 1993 Oslo Accord. In the 2003 elections she was not included on the Labor party list and joined the Meretz Party list of candidates but was not reelected.
A prolific writer, she has written several novels and memoirs, some of which have been translated into English, including New Face in the Mirror, 1959, Death Has Two Sons, 1967, Dust, 1963, and Envy the Frightened, 1960 (fiction); and A Soldier's Diary: Sinai 1967, 1968, Three Weeks in October, 1979, and My Father, His Daughter, 1983 (nonfiction), as well as many articles and film scripts dealing with women's issues, peace, and social criticism.
— MERON MEDZINI
