Yom Kippur War (6 oct 1973 año – 25 oct 1973 año)

Descripción:

UN Resolution 242 had been ignored. The Arabs were humiliated; Jordan, Syria and Lebanon were becoming unstable due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They needed to challenge Israel.

The USSR had replaced Arab weapons since the Six Day War. Egypt and Syria had been quietly massing on the borders. King Hussein had warned Israel, but the Israeli PM Meir realised that Israel needed to be the victim this time.

The 6th October was Yom Kippur, the holiest Jewish day. Israelis went to synagogues, and most soldiers were with their families, so they were unprepared. at 2pm, Egypt attacked the Bar Lev Line with watter cannons and bombs, and constructed temporary bridges over the canal. Syria simultaneously invaded the Golan Heights and outnumbered the small Israeli force.

That afternoon, 23000 Egyptian soldiers entered the Sinai and by the evening, Syrian tanks were moving in to threaten the main part of Israel.

Israel took 3 days to mobilise all its reserve soldiers and on the 8th October, they attacked the Golan Heights. The Syrians had infra-red equipment, but the Israeli tanks were superior. On the 10th October, Syria retreated. Israel threatened Damascus; Syria's president, Assad, told Egypt to move forward.

Sadat complied, despite his generals advising him that they would be out of range of their powerful missiles, making them vulnerable to airstrikes.

There was an ensuing Israeli-Egyptian tank fight in the Sinai, which Israel was winning, but 100000 Egyptian troops still defended the Suez Canal. On 15th October, USA supplies reached Israel and Sharon took part of the Sinai. 750 Israeli paratroopers sneaked across the canal.

On 16th October, 50 Israeli tanks were floated over the canal, and 3 days later the Israelis made a temporary bridge over the canal. They destroyed the Egyptian missiles so the airforce could now get involved. On 23rd October, the Israelis besieged one of the two Egyptian armies in the Sinai and Sadat agreed to a UN ceasefire.

However, the Israelis pushed into Egypt to take more land. As a result, the USSR threatened to put troops into Egypt, the USA went on nuclear alert and the USSR backed down. The Arab states (as OPEC) refused to sell oil to the USA, so the USA pressured Israel into agreeing to the ceasefire. This remained after the war, drawing international attention to the Middle East conflict.

The USSR and USA realised that they needed peace in the Middle East.

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