Written by Michael Anfang (Hanefesh IA)
Many look at the Yom Kippur war
as a defeat; something to be mourned rather than celebrated. I consent that we did not win this
strife with the Arab nations as handily as we did in 1967, however Israel is
still alive and just as strong, if not stronger, than it was on the ninth of
Tishrei, 5734 (October 5, 1973). I
then propose that we look at this war and what it means given the modern
situation.
After
the Six Days War (June 5-10, 1967), Egypt and Syria were constantly lamenting
their loss of territory to Israel.
Egypt’s Sadat made constant threats to regain the land that they lost,
with actual military planning beginning in 1971. Syria, who had been Egypt’s ally ever since the time
of the United Arab Republic (1958-1961), was also not happy about losing the
Golan in the 1967 war and released aggressive rhetoric, albeit less aggressive
than that of Sadat. In the days
and weeks leading up to Yom Kippur, both Egypt and Syria conducted military
exercises close to the border that included many reservists. Many in the Israeli government,
including Prime Minister Golda Meir, brushed these exercises as simply normal
drills (at this time many countries, including Israel, would have exercises
like these near their borders). On
Yom Kippur morning Meir, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, and IDF Chief of Staff
David Elazar met to discuss the possibility of a pre-emptive strike against
Syria. Dayan told Meir that war
was not necessarily imminent while Elazar argued to strike Syrian air, missile
and ground forces all that day.
Obviously Meir sided with Dayan and thus the Arabs were given the first
opportunity to strike.
At
2:00 pm on October 6th, the Egyptian Air Force sent two hundred
planes on a bombing mission to destroy Israeli targets. Over the next three hours, Egypt
sent over thirty thousand soldiers into the Sinai to attack the Israeli
fortifications known as the Bar Lev Line.
Through the night, Egypt breached the Bar Lev Line and brought in
hundreds of tanks and thousands of soldiers. Over the next few days Israel held their ground with some
casualties on both sides until Israel broke through with an offensive on
October 14th. Starting
on October 14th, the IDF pierced a hole in the Egyptian ranks and,
with the help of the IAF’s aerial support, drove the Egyptian army back. By October 23rd, the UN
Security Council had passed a resolution for a ceasefire, which was immediately
ignored by Egypt and Israel had pushed Egypt back to the 1967 borders and
surrounded Egypt’s 3rd army.
By October 28th, after heavy efforts by the United States, a
ceasefire was declared between Egypt and Israel and lasted until the more
permanent treaty was signed in January of 1974.
The
northern front followed a pattern fairly similar to that of the southern
front. In the first couple of
days, Syrian forces engaged thousands of tanks and infantrymen in the Golan and
captured several key Israeli strongholds.
Israeli tanks and fortifications holding back massive Syrian forces
until they were overwhelmed characterized the first couple days of the northern
fight. By the end of October 8th,
Israeli reservists had arrived and started pushing the Syrians back; the forces
were at the 1967 lines by October 10th. Between October 11th and October 14th
Israeli forces advanced towards Damascus, and at their closest point were
shelling the Syrian capital at a distance of only 40km. This offensive push into Syria incited
Iran and Jordan to put men on the ground against Israel, although neither
nation used many resources. Over
the nine days following October 14th, Israel was attempting to rid
the Golan of Syrian forces (it reclaimed Mr. Hermon on October 22nd),
while Arab forces were attempting to push Israel out of 1967 Syria. Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad
(Bashar’s father) accepted the ceasefire on October 23rd and Iraq
and Jordan followed suit.
After
many ceasefires had been called and it was looking as though the dust was
settling, US Secretary of State Harry Kissinger (who won the Nobel Peace Prize
for withdrawing from Vietnam) made a major effort for all the countries to sign
peace deals. Israel signed a peace
treaty with Egypt in 1978 (Camp David Accords with Carter, Sadat, and Begin)
and a treaty with Jordan in 1994 (Clinton, Hussein, and Rabin). Israel and Syria have never signed a
treaty. Over the course of
nineteen days, approximately 2,500 Israeli soldiers were lost while around
15,000 Arab (Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, and Jordanian) soldiers were lost.
So
what does this mean for us in 5774?
As the tenth of Tishrei approaches we face a similar menace to that of
forty years ago. The IDF is
receiving major cuts due to Israel’s national debt and Finance Minister Yair
Lapid’s draconian budget cuts. Israel
does not need fewer defenses these days, but rather it needs its protectors
more than ever. The Shia crescent
is becoming stronger by the day, even considering the weakened stance of Syrian
President Bashar Al- Assad. There
is no political power in the office of the President of Iran; all real power
rests in the hands of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini. This means that nuclear reactors will
keep spinning with the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program sprinting towards
wielding the greatest weapon known to mankind. The Shia crescent is not limited to Iran and Syria, but also
includes Hezbollah, with both Israeli intelligence and it’s chief Hassan
Nasrallah claiming that the terrorist organization possesses tens of thousands
of missiles, all of which are aimed at Israel. With turmoil in Syria, the possibility of Hezbollah gaining
access to Assad’s vast supply of chemical weapons is more and more looming.
The
threats are not solely exterior, but also interior. Ethnicity based clashes and vandalisms are becoming more and
more common, not just on the Israeli side but also the Arab side. Israeli extremists vandalize Muslim
property on a regular basis in what are known as “price tag attacks”, which
most often occur in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem. These Israelis are called terrorists by the left but
patriots by the right. They are
working against the Islamic threat posed by the “Palestinians”. On the second day of Rosh Hashanah this
year, Arabs were stoning Israeli security officers who were simply guarding the
Western Wall area of the Temple Mount.
It shows that, although we would love to believe otherwise, those people
have not changed. We would love to
have a peace deal with every country in the world, including the possibility of
a Palestinian state, but we cannot do so with countries that will not even
recognize our right to exist.
So
then I ask that this weekend when you are in shul for Yom Kippur to think about
Israel’s future. Should we
continue to rest on our laurels and not prepare for the challenges at hand in
the hope that we can squeak out another victory as we did in 1973? Or should we act now and repeat
1967? Will you tell your children
and grandchildren about how you pushed for Israel to allow a terrorist state
within its historical and legal borders, or how you kept all of the Holy Land
as Israel? Will you stand idly by
while Israel stares down the threat of Iran, or will you tell your politicians
that we cannot accept this major threat to global security? I beg of you to not sit on your hands
with your head in the sand, but rather open your eyes and do something. If not for yourself, then for
Israel. We have the power to put
our voices (and our dollars) to use in strengthening the State of Israel. The last question is for how long can
we inscribe Israel into the Book of Life? The answer to that is up to you.
Shanah
tova.
Michael
Anfang is the USY International Chair for Israel Promotions 2013, USY
International Co-Chair of Israel Challenge 2013, and Hanefesh USY Israel
Affairs Vice President 2013-2014.
He is also Senior Middle East Fellow at the Longmeadow Secondary
International Organization. "All
opinions expressed are my own and do not intend to reflect the views and/or
policies of USY on this matter."
