The Yom Kippur War
by Staff WriterOn October 6, 1973, in the Middle East, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, the Egyptian and Syrian military forces launched a massive surprise attack against Israel on Yom Kippur; the holiest day in the Jewish year. The conflict that followed was known in that West as the Yom-Kippur War and in Arab countries as the Ramadan War. The 1973 Yom Kippur War is also referred to as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.
The roots of the war could be traced to the on going dispute between Arabs and Jews. Since the Jews had emerged triumphant from the civil war in Palestine and proclaimed the state of Israel on May 14, 1948, there had been a series of wars between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
On October 6, 1973, during Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, Egypt and Syria unleashed a surprise, coordinated attack on unaware Israeli defenses. The Israeli military caught off guard on this most important religious holiday initially suffered heavy losses. Faced with the war on two fronts against well-supplied opponents, Israel was pushed to the brink of annihilation. However, Israeli forces rallied and after weeks of fighting and with the help of airlifted American equipment and supplies, Israel succeeded in forcing the Arabs back. On the Egyptian front, the intense fighting included one of the largest tank battles in history.
Israeli forces also ejected the Syrians from the Golan Heights. A secession of hostilities between Israel and Egypt was officially agreed to on November 11th. But it would take the intervention of United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger to secure a permanent ceasefire between Syria and Israel the following year.
The war had profound regional and global repercussions. For Israel the 1973 Yom Kippur War had been an alarming experience. Despite the Israel Defense Forces’ ultimate success on the battlefield, the war was considered a diplomatic and military failure. A total of 2,688 soldiers were killed. For the Arab States, despite their eventual defeat, they saw the war as a psychological victory.
The Yom Kippur war also stimulated a serious crisis between the superpowers when the Soviet Union threatened to send troops into the Middle East to enforce the Arab-Israeli ceasefire. Eventually, tensions cooled and the superpower clash was avoided. This would eventually lead to the signing of the Camp David Peace Accords and much later the Oslo Peace Accords. Though the Yom Kippur war had been a dangerous and deadly war; it eventually led to renewed efforts for peace.
Background: Circumstances leading up to the Yom Kippur War
The first of the Arab-Israeli conflicts leading up to the Yom Kippur War was Israel’s war of independence which erupted immediately after the country was founded in 1948.
Fighting broke out again during the Suez crisis in 1956. When Egypt seized control of the Suez Canal and blocked Israeli shipping’s from the Gulf of Wakaba, Israel invaded Egypt as part of a joint military operation with the British and French. However, due to international demands, Israel was soon forced to withdraw to its pre-war borders.
By 1967, Egypt was rearmed with weapons from the Soviet Union. Egypt’s President Nasser sent troops into the Sinai Peninsula and once again cut off Israeli shipping. In response to these aggressive moves, Israel decided to act. In a stunning and brilliantly executed preemptive attack the Israeli military routed the forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan. This military triumph known as the Six-Day War was a humiliating defeat for Arab political and military leaders.
After the Six-Day War, Israel occupied previously Arab controlled territories including the West Bank, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula.
