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N0KFQ > TODAY 06.10.11 18:39l 70 Lines 3374 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Oct 6
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Sent: 111006/1626Z 12537@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.0.4
Oct 6, 1973:
Yom Kippur War begins
Hoping to win back territory lost to Israel during the third
Arab-Israeli war, Egyptian and Syrian forces launch a coordinated
attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the
Jewish calendar. Taking the Israeli Defense Forces by surprise,
Egyptian troops swept deep into the Sinai Peninsula, while Syria
struggled to throw occupying Israeli troops out of the Golan
Heights.
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 the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Syria
the strategic Golan Heights. When Anwar el-Sadat became president
of Egypt in 1970, he found himself leader of an economically
troubled nation that could ill afford to continue its endless
crusade against Israel. He wanted to make 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 conceived of a daring plan to attack
Israel again, which, even if unsuccessful, might convince the
Israelis that peace with Egypt was necessary.
In 1972, Sadat expelled 20,000 Soviet advisers from Egypt and
opened new diplomatic channels with Washington, which, as
Israel's key ally, would be an essential mediator in any future
peace talks. He formed a new alliance with Syria, and a concerted
attack on Israel was planned.
When the fourth Arab-Israeli war 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. Iraqi forces soon joined the war, and
Syria received support from Jordan. After several days, Israel
was fully mobilized, and the Israel Defense Forces began beating
back the Arab gains at a heavy cost to soldiers and equipment. A
U.S. airlift of arms aided Israel's cause, but President Richard
Nixon delayed the emergency military aid for seven days as a
tacit signal of U.S. sympathy for Egypt. In late October, an
Egyptian-Israeli cease-fire was secured by the United Nations.
Although Egypt had again suffered military defeat at the hands of
its Jewish neighbor, the initial Egyptian successes greatly
enhanced Sadat's prestige in the Middle East and provided him
with an opportunity to seek peace. In 1974, the first of two
Egyptian-Israeli disengagement agreements providing for the
return of portions of the Sinai to Egypt were signed, and in 1979
Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the first
peace agreement between Israel and one of its Arab neighbors. In
1982, Israel fulfilled the 1979 peace treaty by returning the
last segment of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
For Syria, the Yom Kippur War was a disaster. The unexpected
Egyptian-Israeli cease-fire exposed Syria to military defeat, and
Israel seized even more territory in the Golan Heights. In 1979,
Syria voted with other Arab states to expel Egypt from the Arab
League. On October 6, 1981, Sadat was assassinated by Muslim
extremists in Cairo while viewing a military parade commemorating
the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.
73, K.O. n0kfq
Another old retired guy
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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