History of The Israel Defense Forces - The 1973 Yom Kippur War

The 1973 Yom Kippur War

See the main article: Yom Kippur War.

The Yom Kippur War, also known as the "10th of Ramadan War" in Arab countries, broke Israeli over-confidence created after the victory of the Six-Day War. This time, Jordan stayed out and wasn't involved in the war. The war opened on 6 October 1973 on Yom Kippur, the holiest Jewish holiday.

Egypt and Syria attempted to regain the territory under Israeli occupation by force. Their armies launched a joint surprise attack on the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday (the most sacred Jewish day of all in which each Jew must atone for his sins, pray and avoid eating and drinking) – the Syrian forces attacking fortifications in the Golan Heights and the Egyptian forces attacking fortifications around the Suez Canal and on the Sinai Peninsula. The troops inflicted heavy casualties on the Israeli army. After three weeks of fighting, though, and with U.S. air-lifted reinforcements of weapons and equipments (first shipment arrived on 9 October 1973), the IDF pushed the Syrian forces beyond the original lines.

In the Golan Heights, small groups of tank commanders such as Avigdor Kahalani managed to hold back dozens of Syrian tanks. By 10 October, the IDF recaptured the entire Golan Heights and on 11 October Israeli armored forces invaded Syria and destroyed the Iraqi reinforcements. On 22 October, the Golani infantry brigade captured Mount Hermon (an important strategic outpost).

In the Sinai Peninsula, Israeli armor was unable to prevent or push back Egyptian infantry crossing the Suez Canal. Most of the fortified Bar Lev Line was captured within the first two days of the war. Subsequent Israeli counterattacks launched by reserve forces arriving to the front were disastrous, and the Israelis were forced to withdraw to a new defensive line. On 14 October, the Israelis repelled a renewed Egyptian attack, and the following day launched their counteroffensive. On 16 October the Israelis crossed the Suez Canal and attempted to capture the towns of Ismailia and Suez and to cut off Egyptian supply lines. The Israelis failed to capture either town, but succeeded on 24 October in cutting off the supply lines of the Egyptian Third Army to the south after breaking for a few hours a United Nations ceasefire resolution. The price of the war was heavy. 2,800 Israelis were killed and 9,000 were wounded. About 300 Israeli soldiers were taken captive. Egyptian and Syrian casualties are estimated at around 15,000 and about 30,000 were wounded. 8,300 Egyptian soldiers and 400 Syrian soldiers were captured.

In Israel, the war caused a public outrage, forcing the government to appoint an investigation commission. The Agranat Commission found serious flaws in the functioning of the intelligence forecasting branch, which failed to foresee the war and ignored various warnings. The Chief of Staff, David Elazar ("Dado") resigned after harsh criticism by the commission. Although the commission praised Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir on her leadership during the war, she resigned following the war and was replaced by Yitzhak Rabin.