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The Yom Kippur War (also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the October War and Ramadan War), was fought from October 6 (the day of Yom Kippur) to October 22/ 24, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Egypt and Syria.1 Summary
President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt died in September 1970. He was succeeded by Anwar Sadat, who resolved to fight Israel and win back the territory lost in 1967. The plan to attack Israel in concert with Syria was code-named Operation Badr (the Arabic word for "full moon").
Egypt and Syria attempted to regain the territory Israeli forces gained during the 1967 war. Their armies launched a joint surprise attack on October 6 1973, during the Muslim Ramadan holiday, which coincided with the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur that year. Syrian forces attacked fortifications in the Golan HeightsThe Golan Heights previously known as the Syrian Heights, is a plateau on the border of Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. Israel captured the land from Syria during the Six-Day War. Syria still claims it. Additionally, Lebanon claims a small portion of t and Egyptian forces attacked fortifications around the Suez CanalThe Suez Canal ( Arabic, Qan al-Suways , west of the Sinai Peninsula, forms a 163 km (101 mile) ship canal in Egypt between Port Said Bur Sa'id on the Mediterranean and Suez al-Suways on the Red Sea. The canal allows water transport from Europe to Asia wi and on the Sinai PeninsulaSinai Peninsula, Gulf of Suez (west), Gulf of Aqaba (east) from Space Shuttle STS-40 The Sinai Peninsula (in Arabic, Shibh Jazirat Sina is a triangle-shaped peninsula lying between the Mediterranean Sea (to the north) and Red Sea (to the south). Its land. The troops inflicted heavy casualties on the Israeli army. After three weeks of fighting, however, and resupplied with ammunition by a large-scale U.S. airlift operation, the IDF pushed the Arab forces back beyond the original lines.
According to Israeli accounts, 2,688 Israeli servicemen were killed in the war and several thousand more (estimated at between 5,000 - 10,000) were wounded. 295 Israeli soldiers surrendered or were taken prisoner by the Arab forces (231 by Egypt, 62 by Syria and 2 in Lebanon) and 8,783 Arab soldiers were captured by the Israelis (8,372 Egyptians, 392 Syrians, 13 Iraqis and 6 Moroccans).
All POWs had been exchanged by mid-1974. The Egyptian and Syrian air forces together with their air defences shot down 114 Israeli warplanes during the conflict.
During the war, the Barak Armored Brigade played an important role defending Israel's borders against the Syrian attack in the southern Golan Heights. 112 soldiers were killed in action there.It should also be noted that a christian volunteer unit,one of many played a vital role in this conflict.Foreign nationals from all over the world flooded to the aid of Israel.The volunteer units produced some of the finest tank commanders ever to have served with the IDF. Mike Landon, Willie Beere and Tim Humphries, to name but a few. Most were either killed or wounded.The volunteer units fought on all fronts,the most famous action being the battle for sinia.
On October 22, a cease-fire was declared, but the Israeli public's confidence had been severely shaken. Israel had been unprepared for the surprise attack and unable to repulse it quickly. The nation's lack of preparation was blamed on the Defence Minister Moshe Dayan and an outraged public demanded his resignation. The president of the Supreme Court set up a commission to investigate the performance of generals during the war. The commission recommended the resignation of the Chief of Staff, but reserved judgement on Dayan. The press and the public, however, condemned him. After attending a military funeral at which bereaved parents had called him a murderer of their sons, Dayan submitted his resignation to Golda Meir in 1974.
In Egypt and Syria the October War was seen as a victory. The "impregnable" Bar Lev Line had been broken, the Israeli air force had suffered serious losses and the myth of the invincibility of Israeli arms had been smashed in Sinai and the Golan Heights. The Israelis were forced to disgorge some of their conquests through a series of "disengagement" agreements with Syria and Egypt, brokered by US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, though the comprehensive peace envisioned by the joint Soviet-American sponsored Middle East Peace Conference did not occur.
