8 | OCTOBER 5 • 2023 
J
N

guest column

50 Years ago: Oct. 6, 1973:
Lessons from Israel’s Darkest Day
W

hy is that bridge, 
that school and 
that city all named 
“6th of October”? I asked our 
Egyptian tour guide while on 
a bus outside of 
Cairo. 
“Oh,” she 
quickly snapped 
back, “It’s our 
way of wishing 
for peace for all 
people.”
I wasn’t 
buying it. Her answer was 
too rehearsed, too phony. 
I suspected she was hiding 
something, and I had a feeling 
I knew exactly what it was. So 
as soon as I was able, I looked 
it up and confirmed that Oct. 
6, 1973, was indeed the first 
day of the Yom Kippur War.
Of course, the tour guide 
was lying to me. She knew full 
well why that date is widely 
honored in Egypt and what 
it means to many Egyptians: 
Egypt’s hugely triumphant 
first day of that war — which 

they refer to as the “6th of 
October War” — and the 
darkest day in Israeli history.
Egypt and Syria’s surprise 
attack on the holiest day of the 
Jewish calendar caught Israeli 
forces uncharacteristically 
unprepared, with devastating 
consequences. The Egyptian 
army quickly crossed the 
Suez Canal and Syrian forces 
captured a large part of the 
southern Golan Heights. 
Half of all of Israel’s 11,000 
casualties occurred within the 
first three days of the War, 
the highest toll since the 1948 
War of Independence. 
The historical context of 
those early days of the Yom 
Kippur War cannot be over-
stated. Just six years earlier, 
in the Six Day War of 1967, 
Israel shocked the world with 
a victory so swift and decisive 
that it seemed almost invin-
cible. Egypt, Syria and Jordan 
suffered a humiliating defeat, 
and Israelis were riding a wave 
of supreme confidence — and 

hubris. Many Israelis regarded 
their spectacular victory as a 
modern-day miracle and even 
a source for humor (“On the 
seventh day, Israel rested” was 
a common joke at the time).
But all that changed on Oct. 
6, 1973.
 At Kol Nidre the night 
before, Prime Minister Golda 
Meir dined at her son’s house 
and began her Yom Kippur 
fast. The country essentially 
shut down at sunset, just as it 
does every year. At 4 a.m., she 
was awakened by a phone call 
from Brig. Gen. Yisrael Lior 
informing her that reliable 
reports were indicating that 
Egyptian and Syrian forces 
would be launching a massive 
attack in both the north and 
south of Israel that afternoon, 
on Yom Kippur. I
Israeli intelligence had not 
foreseen the invasion, nor had 
it detected the sudden surge 
of enemy troops on its bor-
ders, which were dangerously 
understaffed. 

Meir called a meeting for 
6 a.m. with her top generals 
and advisers, which includ-
ed Defense Minister Moshe 
Dayan, the hero of the 1967 
war. Dayan urged Meir not to 
strike first, saying that “it is 
important that they don’t say 
we started it.” All the various 
military scenarios were stud-
ied and assessed, including 
immediate preemptive strikes. 
It was decision time for the 
prime minister.
 She told her staff that 
preemptive strikes would be 
a big mistake: “The little help 
we have from the internation-
al community will disappear,” 
she later recounted saying. 
“They will throw us to the 
dogs. They don’t like Jews … 
I am scared … 1973 is not 
1967, and this time we will 
not be forgiven, and we will 
not receive assistance when 
we have the need for it … 
And if we strike first, we will 
get nothing from anyone.”
 She opted to wait and let 

Mark Jacobs

PURELY COMMENTARY

continued on page 10

IDF

Destroyed Syrian T62 
Tank after Yom Kipupr 
War near Ortal. In the 
background is Mount 
Shifon.

Egyptian military trucks 
cross a bridge laid over 
the Suez Canal on Oct. 
7, 1973, during the Yom 
Kippur War.

