Third Battle of Mount Hermon - Prelude

Prelude

Nadel's officers suggested taking the crest and then moving down to the Israeli Hermon. Brigadier-General Yekutiel Adam, Deputy Chief of Northern Command, rejected this suggestion, saying Golani should capture the outpost it had lost. The paratroop officers suggested that Golani would attack from the east, but were rejected because the eastern slope was considered too vulnerable to Syrian artillery and too steep to safely evacuate the wounded. On the night of October 20, Drori arrived at Northern Command and was advised by a paratroop officer to change his orders. He refused.

For the two weeks before the Israeli attack, the Syrians were hiding by day, expecting an Israeli assault. Two Syrians were wounded by Israeli shelling during those two weeks. On the morning of October 21, a reconnaissance team under the command of Yoni Netanyahu climbed an adjacent spur to look at the Israeli Hermon, and reported seeing only two Syrians on the ridge the entire day. Aerial photography also failed to show any indication of Syrian forces in the outpost. That evening, 400 Golani troops gathered in a grove at the foot of the western slope. Drori told them that the Hermon was highly important, being "the eyes and ears of the country".