oct 20, 1973 - Yom Kippur War - Zach

Description:

Israel's stunning victory in the Six-Day War of 1967 left the Jewish nation in control of territory four times its previous size. Egypt lost the 23,500-square-mile Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip, Jordan lost the West Band and East Jerusalem, and Syria lost the strategic Golan Heights. Anwar el-Sadat, the president of Egypt in 1970 wanted peace and thereby achieve stability and recovery of the Sinai, but after Israel’s 1967 victory it was unlikely that Israel’s peace terms would be favorable to Egypt. So Sadat created a daring plan to attack Israel again, which, even if failed, might convince the Israelis that peace with Egypt was necessary. Sadat expelled 20,000 Soviet advisers from Egypt and opened new diplomatic channels with Washington, D.C., which, as Israel’s key ally, would be an essential tool for negotiating a peace treaty. He also formed a new ally with Syria and created a concentrated attack on Israel. Yom Kippur was the fourth war of the Arab-Israeli war that began on October 6, 1973, many of Israel’s soldiers were away from their posts observing Yom Kippur, and the Arab armies made impressive advances with their up-to-date Soviet weaponry. A U.S. airlift of arms aided Israel’s cause, but President Richard Nixon delayed the emergency military aid for a week as a tacit signal of U.S. sympathy for Egypt. On October 25, an Egyptian-Israeli cease-fire was secured by the United Nations.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Yom-Kippur-War
https://www.history.com/articles/yom-kippur-war

Added to timeline:

Date:

Images: