8 | OCTOBER 5 • 2023
J
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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.