Info Matt and Tommy from A period
Nikki and Megan from B period

Key Figures and Events
Anwar Sadat, the president of Egypt at the time, planned the attack on Israel, so that Israel would have to negotiate with Egypt about giving up land to the Egyptians. Sadat wanted to regain back the land that Egypt lost in the Six-day war back in 1967 and he wanted to resolve some political problems that had been going on for years because no peace agreement had been reached after the Six-day war. Sadat convinced Hafez Assad, the president of Syria, to help with the attack by invading Israel from the north so that the Israeli defenses would be split and weakened. Sadat decided to start the attack on the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, on October 6, 1973. When The Egyptians and Syrians invaded the Israelis were caught almost entirely by surprised because their intel was not very good. The Egyptians start off very well, going right through the surprised Israeli forces, but by October 9, the Israelis were receiving support by the Jordanians and calling for help from the United States and the USSR. Once the Egyptians and Syrians lost their element of surprise they were pushed back very easily and had many soldiers killed. The war lasted for 13 more days and on October 22, 1973 a ceasefire was called for by the UN and the war was over. Thoughout the entire war the Egyptians lost 15,000 troops with 30,000 wounded and the Israelies lost 2,500 soldiers with 7,500 wounded.

external image goldameir.jpg
(Golda Meir - Israeli Prime Minister)

Anwar Sadat was the leader of Egypt until 1981 when he was assassinated. He played a significant role in the Yom Kippur War and many other important events in this time period. Sadat wanted a diplomatic way to end the fighting and the war in the Middle East and created the Sadat Initiative which was in 1977 and would help solve the terrible economic crisis and the fact that Israel was threatening Cairo: Sadat went to Israel to talk to the Israeli parliament, or the Knesset, about the issues that they had between their countries and how he wanted to solve them. But unfortunately, the Israeli's thought that the trust between the two countries had been broken and Sadat was condemned Israel, Syria, Libya and Algeria.

external image anwar_sadat_drum.jpg
(Anwar Sadat - President of Egypt)

Israeli Perspective
The Israelis took a proactive measure by fortifying their side of the Suez canal so that the Egyptians would not be able to cross it. However, they were surprised when Egypt succeeded in crossing it and took land. With their backs against the wall, Israel was forced to negotiate to solve the long term conflict. It angered Israel that Egypt came in and took their land. The Israelis fought for several weeks in the Sinai and Golan Heights. They received their arms from the United States. There was a ceasefire, followed by several years of negotiations. Israel did not want to include Palestine in the talks, but the Arabs were adamant in their beliefs that Palestine should be included. The two sides still did not negotiate directly. However, the Egyptian leader Sadat visited Israel, and the Israeli people did not hate the Arabs as much after that.

Facts About The Conflict
  • October 6-23 1973
  • Surprise attack by Egypt/Syria on Israel on Yom Kippur (traditional Jewish day of atonement)
  • part of Arab-Israeli War, mainly caused by religious and political differences between different groups of people trying to control land area in the Middle East
  • Led by Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt
  • Sadat initiative meant to be diplomatic end to crisis in Middle East
    • Sadat Initiative - November 1977 - pouring rest of money they have into military funding, despite heavy debt
      • Ending Middle East Crisis would really boost Egyptian economy
      • Sadat went to speak to Israeli parliament (Knesset) before invasion to directly address problems in middle east and provide Arab point of view in the decision making process for what to do but PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) said no, along with Syria, Libya and Algeria turning against his negotiations
  • Egypt and Syria supported with air and military forces (once invasion's taken place) by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Sudan, Morroco, Algeria, and Kuwait
    • Egyptians super prepared with 70,000 troops against only 500 Israelis
external image Yom_Kippur_sinai_war_map1.jpg
(Egyptian-Israeli Front at Sinai)

Outcome
On October 22, 1973 the United Nations calls for cease-fire with Resolution 338. Though the UN demanded both sides stop fighting within twelve hours of the announcement of the ceasefire, Israeli proximity to the Egyptian capitol of Cairo (their goal) led Israeli leaders to violate the UN ceasefire and push further south to take the Suez canal.They were met on Cairo/Suez highway by the formerly trapped and US supported Egyptian Third Army and driven out of Egypt. Soviet leader Leonin Brezhnev appealed to the US president Richard Nixon that the US and Soviets work together to ensure Israelis and Egyptians honor cease-fire, each putting pressure on Israel to end their invasion of Egypt by threatening to join the war on Egypt and Syria's side if they did not retreat. Egyptians almost occupied by Israeli opposition on October 15th when General Sharon pushed past the Suez Canal with both extreme air and land forces, nearly occupying Cairo, only restricted from taking Egypt's capitol more by political contract than lack of ability.The next day, October 23, Syria accepted the UN ceasefire after the Syrian General Staff nearly launched an offensive on Israel, though realized that without the support of Egypt there was no way they could have won. On October 24 Resolution 339 was put out, demanding that everyone follow Resolution 388 and officially declaring an armistice proclaiming the end of the war. All frontline fire ended by October 26th. This time the ceasefire really was kept in effect, but both sides were still completely devastated by the fighting and political unrest this two and a half week war brought to the Middle East. Israel was effected by high casualty rates though the fighting ended in a stalemate, the US by the oncoming 1973 energy crisis brought on by Saudi Arabia's oil blockade because of US support of Israel, and reinforced the message of Israeli peace movements in Arab states by the Israeli lead when the fighting had ended.
external image 1973_Yom_Kippur.jpg
3 QUESTIONS
  • Who initiated the war?
  • How did Anwar Sadat benefit from this conflict?
  • How does this conflict relate to the Cold War between the Unites States and the USSR?

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