After repeated assaults, they finally overcame the tank. This solitary tank inflicted heavy casualties on his troops. An Egyptian commander later recounted how a lone Israeli tank fought off his infantry division for more than half an hour. Egyptian bombers then dropped their canisters of death, after which the first wave of 8,000 assault infantrymen threw themselves against the battered Israelis. In the first minute of the attack, the Egyptians launched a concentrated barrage of 10,500 Soviet-made shells on a handful of Israeli fortifications at the rate of 175 shells per second. Along the Suez Canal during the first two or three days of the war, only a thin line of about 436 brave young Israelis stood between the nation and disaster. With this massive assault force, the enemy achieved a strategic and tactical advantage early in the war. The Arabs had a 20-to-1 edge over Israel in infantry forces and a 5-to-1 advantage in tanks. On that day most Jewish people were at home or in synagogues, which made it easier to mobilize Israel’s reserve forces.Īnother Arab myth was that they would have a spiritual advantage by launching their attack during Ramadan, Islam’s holy month of fasting ordained by the Koran so that its followers “may cultivate piety.” The Grand Sheikh in Cairo exhorted the beguiled with battle cries: “We are fighting for Allah, for Islam and for humanity.” “Allah promised us heaven if we fight in his name, so let us rush to the noble battlefield.” However, they were wrong about Israel’s vulnerability on Yom Kippur. They assumed that on October 6, Israel would be at its lowest state of preparedness. The enemy reasoned that they would have won the Six–Day War if only they had struck first, so this time they waited for a day when Israel would be caught off guard. Highly equipped and able to overwhelm Israel, they fortified their confidence with various myths. Numerically superior in manpower and material, Egypt and Syria had Russian support and sophisticated Soviet weapons. Whatever the title, this conflict was started by the aggressive acts of Egypt and Syria in launching coordinated surprise attacks into the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. To the Arabs it is the War of Ramadan or simply the October War. The history books call this war by various names.
Suddenly they heard the piercing wail of air-raid sirens. During their meeting, the military secretary burst into the room shouting that the shooting had started.
Yet it was Moshe Dayan who argued that if Israel mobilized before a shot was fired, they would risk intense international criticism as the aggressor in this war. In the past, Israel relied on its preemptive strike and fast-moving, offensive armor. The ominous signs coming from the Arab world caused Golda Meir to call an emergency cabinet meeting. Since the end of the Six-Day War and the War of Attrition (1967, 1970), Syria and Egypt had plotted moves toward another major conflict with Israel. It is the most sacred day on the Jewish calendar-and the Arabs knew it. There are no excursions to the beaches or parks, no picnics or entertainment-only silence. Others rest and spend the day in quiet, personal reflection. The observant attend synagogue services to seek atonement for their sins. On this day a solemn quiet fills most Jewish households. Israel would be attacked! This particular Israeli/Arab war would be different from the others because the shock would linger for years. Still, Golda Meir was unable to sleep on the night of October 5, 1973. The Chief of Staff and the Minister of Defense agreed. Yet the head of the Israeli intelligence service assured her that the present circumstance was not cause for alarm. The families of the Russian advisers in Syria were packing up and leaving in a hurry-another troubling sign. Reports had been coming in since May stating that Syrian and Egyptian troops were gathering on Israel’s northern and southern borders. It was that same strange feeling she had back in 1967, on the eve of the Six-Day War.
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