Yom Kippur War

In class today, Mr. Stewart explained several events surrounding the oil price explosion of the 1970s, one of which was the Yom Kippur War of 1973. This post will attempt to go into more detail regarding the circumstances of the war. The war began on the Day of Atonement, which is known as Yom Kippur, a holy day on the Jewish calendar. In fact, this war was a continuation of the Arab–Israeli conflict, which had begun in 1948, when the state of Israel was formed. Since Israel had experienced a massive victory in the Six-Day War of 1967, gaining control of territory four times its previous size, the Arab nations were determined to win their former land back.

On October 6, 1973, the Arabs caught Israel by surprise with an attack, knowing that their military would be taking part in religious celebrations in accordance with Yom Kippur. Egypt and Syria's combined forces were overwhelming, and other Arab nations also rallied against Israel. Just the forces that gathered on Golan Heights, a strategic location in north Israel where Israeli troops were gathered, were massive. As one article states, "The combined forces of Egypt and Syria totalled the same number of men as NATO had in Western Europe. On the Golan Heights alone, 150 Israeli tanks faced 1,400 Syria tanks and in the Suez region just 500 Israeli soldiers faced 80,000 Egyptian soldiers ... Iraq transferred a squadron of Hunter jet fighter planes to Egypt a few months before the war began. Iraqi Russian-built MIG fighters were used against the Israelis in the Golan Heights along with 18,000 Iraqi soldiers. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait effectively financed the war from the Arabs side. Saudi troops – approximately 3,000 men - also fought in the war. Libya provided Egypt with French-built Mirage fighters and in the years 1971 to 1973, Libya bankrolled Egypt’s military modernisation to the tune of $1 billion which was used to purchase modern Russian weapons." Soon, Egyptians had crossed the Suez Canal and were inland of Israeli troops. Similarly, Syrians had advanced far into Golan Heights. With all the odds stacked against them, Israeli forces were soon crushed and their future was heavily at risk.

Two days later, backed by reserves, Israeli troops began to fight back. They counter-attacked in the Sinai, and advanced towards Cairo. In Golan Heights, too, they pushed back Syrian forces and advanced towards the Syrian capital. Having waited a week as a courtesy to Egypt, President Nixon now favored Israel with emergency military aid in an airlift of arms. Initially, American leaders had expected the tide to quickly turn in favor of Israel, and Henry Kissenger's argument that Israel needed incentive to conform to American ideals was ignored. When this did not happen, Nixon called for Operation Nickel Grass on October 9. This resulted in the aforementioned airlift of arms. On the same day, the Soviet Union began providing support for Egypt and Syria by air and sea. The United States also supplied Israel with essential intelligence, using spy-planes to determine where major concentrations of Arab forces would be. American reconnaissance gave Israel the ability to coordinate attacks for maximum effect, knowing exactly where to strike at the enemy.

Thus, on October 24, the United Nations organized a cease-fire for the warring nations. Peacekeepers were sent to deal with the leftover fighting. Henry Kissenger, then the American Secretary of State, acted as a peace broker. Egypt and Israel signed an interim agreement in September 1975, promising to settle differences with peaceful means. Eventually this would lead to American sponsored talks at Camp David. Anwar Sadat, then the leader of Egypt, was seen to have betrayed the people by employing diplomacy to deal with Washington, D.C. For this, he would be assassinated in 1981 by Muslim fundamentalists. Israel's victory came at a high cost with many casualties, and many citizens were displeased with their government. Angry at the disaster the war had wrought on themselves, Syria and other Arab nations expelled Egypt from the Arab League in 1979.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur_War
http://www.history.com/topics/yom-kippur-war
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/yom_kippur_war_of_1973.htm