OCTOBER 5 • 2023 | 61
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Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History 

accessible at thejewishnews.com

50 Years After the 
Yom Kippur War
T

his Oct. 6, 2023, marks the 50th anniversary of Israel’s darkest days 
since its War of Independence in 1948. At 2 p.m. on Yom Kippur 
in 1973, as Israelis observed the High Holiday, Egyptian and Syrian 
armed forces launched a sneak attack. 
Armed by the Soviet Union with modern anti-aircraft and anti-tank 
missiles, Egypt’s and Syria’s initial attacks were devastating. Egypt launched 
an audacious offensive across the Suez Canal into the Sinai 
Peninsula, which had been held by Israel since the Six-Day 
War in 1967. At the same time, Syria began a massive assault, 
led by 1,000 tanks, in the Golan Heights. 
After three days of intense fighting, Egypt was pushed 
back, and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) eventually 
crossed the Suez Canal and were threatening Cairo. In the 
north, the IDF had repelled the Syrians and were on the 
outskirts of Damascus. 
At the war’s end, Israel had achieved a major military 
victory, but at a huge cost to all sides. After nearly three weeks of intense, 
brutal fighting, the IDF lost 2,656 soldiers with more than 7,000 wound-
ed. Egypt is believed to have lost between 8,000 and 20,000 soldiers and 
as many as 35,000 wounded; Syria had an estimated 15,000 killed and 
30,000 wounded (neither Egypt nor Syria released casualty reports).
The impact of the Yom Kippur War was immense. On the positive 
side, it set the stage for a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979 (and one with Jordan 
in 1994). On the negative side, the war eventually led to the downfall of Prime 
Minister Golda Meir’s government over questions regarding Israel’s intelligence 
failures prior to the onset of the war. The war also changed the nature of inter-
nal Israeli politics.
And, the Yom Kippur War affected our local community. First, the William 
Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History holds many pages with 
reports about war in the October and November 1973 issues of the JN. 
Detroit’s Jewish community did its part to assist Israel in the aftermath of 
the Yom Kippur War, providing financial and moral support. For example, see 
the ad for the 1974 Allied Jewish Campaign’s Emergency Fund: “Is This Your 
Problem, Too?” This letter from campaign chairs William Davidson and Louis 
Grossman is an appeal for support for Israel, as well as a cogent synopsis of the 
challenges facing Israel after the war (Nov. 30, 1973, JN).
The Yom Kippur War has been a topic of interest ever since 1973. The JN 
published stories about the war on its 30th and 40th anniversaries (Oct. 3, 2003, 
Sept. 5, 2013). Barbara Sofer’s article on the 10th anniversary still holds true: 
“YK War Still in Israel’s Psyche” (Sept. 9, 1983). 
To this point, IDF Chief of Staff Herzl “Herzi” Halevi recently declared that those who served in the Yom 
Kippur War are a source of inspiration for current IDF members. Some of those veterans have connections to Detroit. Former 
executive director of the Detroit Zoo, Ron Kagan, dropped out of college to join the IDF when the war broke out (May 27, 
2021). Arik Ragowsky of Farmington Hills was a tank commander in 1973 (May 17, 2018).
The Yom Kippur War is a significant moment in Israeli history. It ranks with the War of Independence and the Six-Day War 
as a defining moment for modern Israel. 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN archives, available for free at thejewishnews.com.

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

