British built Hawker Hunter

fighter bombers.

Iraq lent some of these planes to Egypt for the war. An action

symbolic of Arab unity.

Israel

• Israel had heavily fortified its borders,

Israeli trenches

on the Bar Lev

line.

• Israel had heavily fortified its borders, especially the Suez area and the Golan heights. In the Suez area the defences were called the ‘Bar Lev’ line after an Israeli general.

• She knew however, that her greatest assets were her air force and the motivation of her soldiers. These she carefully nurtured.

The War begins

Egyptian soldiers cross

the canal by boat

A tremendous feat of military

engineering. The Egyptians

bridged the canal and cut through

the sand wall fortification, (with

water cannons), in 5 hours. The

Israelis were taken by surprise.

Egyptian troops crossing the Israeli

Bar Lev line of defence.

Notice the RPG

7 held by the

soldier in the

middle.

But Israel did not panic.

As Egyptian troops (in red)

poured into the Sinai desert, the

Israeli armies grouped together

and waited for the reserve army and waited for the reserve army

to appear.

The Israeli’s then counter

attacked (in blue) by attempting

to punch a hole in the Egyptian

line and completely cutting off

Egypt’s 3rd army.

The UAR flag (Egypt)

raised in victory.

The Egyptian army victorious!

raised in victory.

But it was too soon to

celebrate.

The battle was won,

but the war wasn’t

finished.

Israeli ’Phantoms’

patrol as Israeli

Centurion tanks

move past wounded

Major fighting in

the Sinai Desert.

move past wounded

soldiers.

There were massive

tank battles-

between as many as

1,000 tanks at one

time.

Massive tank battles.

The Golan Heights.

• With apparent

Egyptian

success, Syria

now invades now invades

Israel from the

North, over the

Golan Heights.

The Golan Heights. Syria invaded Israel. She had Iraqi air force support in

the sky. King Hussein of Jordan reluctantly (?) supplied

artillery to protect the South flank.

Syrian advance.

Israeli artillery was waiting

however.

The Israeli

reserves moved

fast, and the Israeli

air force perfected

quick refuelling and quick refuelling and

resupply

techniques to keep

them in the air

longer.

Israeli artillery pound Syrian

positions.

Once again Israeli air superority

was crucial. Here Syrian tanks lie

destroyed by the IAF.

IAF planes flying over Syria’s

‘SAM’ belt. (can you see all 4

planes?)

Israel counter attacks.

• Fighting hard the Israeli reserves managed to push through the centre of the Egyptian assault and push themselves across the Suez canal into Egypt.

• They advanced on Cairo- and stopped only 65 • They advanced on Cairo- and stopped only 65 miles short. They were led by General Ariel Sharon.

• Equally hard was the fight back against the Syrians. Re-conquering the Golan Heights the Israelis pressed on into Syria, coming to within 35 miles of Damascus.

An Israeli tank back on the Bar Lev

line. Next stop Cairo, Egypt?

Super Power

complications

•Once again the Superpowers could not stand back and watch in

neutrality. They had supplied intelligence and weaponry to

both sides, and now it was being tested. Their status was

therefore being challenged..

•The USA had already been flying in large amounts of guns, tanks and •The USA had already been flying in large amounts of guns, tanks and

spare parts to Israel.

•The Soviets union had been supplying Egypt and Syria with just as

much. However it was becoming obvious that Egypt was

losing. The Soviet planes suddenly stopped arriving in Cairo.

•This cause panic in the US. Were the planes being reequipped to carry

front-line Russian soldiers?

•Would the US need to send soldiers to Israel. Was this the start of

World War 3?

Soviet supply planes bound for

Egypt- but what might they be

carrying ?

October 24 1973. Ceasefire.• Neither superpower wanted war therefore they co-

operated in the United Nations.

• The United Nations organised a ceasefire. Resolution 338.

• No Russian soldiers ever arrived in Egypt.• No Russian soldiers ever arrived in Egypt.

• This was to the Arabs’ advantage because Israeli forces were close to both Egypt’s and Syria’s capital cities, they had one entire Egyptian army cut off in the Sinai desert, and had, by now, occupied large pieces of Arab territory.

• The UN sent in peace keepers to the Suez region, and the Golan heights. All forces began to withdraw.

Lebanon

Syria

Israel

Jordan

Golan Heights

The End of the War.

-green marks Israeli

gains

Egypt

Suez Canal

Casualties

• Israel 2,688 dead.

• Egypt 7,700 dead.

• Syria 3,500 dead.

Results

• The Arab armies did much better than in the Six-Day War and managed to inflict some surprises on the Israelis. This filled some with confidence.

• The Israelis learned from the experience not to be complacent about Arab threats, or lax in defence.

• The Israelis learned from the experience not to be complacent about Arab threats, or lax in defence.

• Both sides, consequently, continued updating their weapons, and planned for the next war.

• The war had solved nothing, and had proved little.

What is a ‘Victory’?

• The Israelis made most gains- and held new territory that had belonged to the enemy. They felt disappointed however, and cheated by the ceasefire agreement.

For them it was an almost victory, but a loss of good men and real victory added up to little.

• The Arabs conversely lost more men and equipment but regarded it as a victory. They had not done so well before against israel and had been saved from a crushing defeat by the UN.

Their military reputation was enhanced and the memory of their defeat in the Six day war had been erased.

Post war consequences..

Dr.Kissinger and the Sadat

Initiative.

• The United states sent Dr.Kissinger to organise

a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. An

‘interim’ agreement was signed September 1975

• November 1977 President Sadat proposed the • November 1977 President Sadat proposed the

‘Sadat initiative’. He would visit Jerusalem and

speak to the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) to

resolve all difficulties.

• It at last broke the mould of hatred and distrust

between Egypt and Israel.

Dr. Kissinger (USA). The

peace broker.

Camp David, USA.

• Under the guidance of US President Jimmy

Carter, President Sadat of Egypt and Prime

Minister Menachim Begin of Israel met at Camp

David to discuss the future of the Middle East.

• They both won the Nobel Peace Prize when a

Camp David peace agreement was signed

1978. It promised peace at last!

Presidents Sadat (UAE), Carter

(USA), and Begin (Israel) sign

the Camp David Accords. 1978.

• The Palestinians, the PLO and most Arab

states were furious! It looked like an Arab

nation had broken with the Khartoum

Resolution and recognised Israel as an

independent state (and therefore

dismissed Palestinian Arab claims to their

own lands).own lands).

• 1981 President Sadat was assassinated.

Not one of his bodyguards returned fire on

the attackers.

• There were three US presidents at Sadat’s

funeral, and only one Arab leader.

Assassination of President Sadat of

Egypt 1981

Egyptian

‘jihadi’

extremists.

The crowds run to

safety.

extremists.

The president and foreign visitors hide under their chairs

Summary.• Egypt and Israel, by a lot of fighting, had found a

way to work together.

• The Palestinians, PLO, were not prepared to

tolerate this and would step up their campaign of

attacks from their bases in Lebanon.attacks from their bases in Lebanon.

• Other Arab states looked to take over Egypt’s

role as leader of the Arab league; Syria notably,

but also Iraq. Attacking Israel was seen as a

good way to get Arab unity.