EVALUATION OF SOURCES:
The two sources that I chose to evaluate are “Israel and the Arabs” by Maxime Rodison and “A History of Israel” by Howard M.Sachar. Both sources during my investigation proved to be very helpful, however the two sources each had its values and limitations.
The values of these two source, I feel were plentiful. The values of the source “Israel and the Arabs” were that the author Maxime Rodinson had served the Syrian army and had traveled the Middle East region for quite a long time. He also joined the communist party in the region and when he returned to France he still kept active relations with the party in the Middle East. He was also a teacher in a Moslem school, where he taught old south Arabian languages. However, the most important fact about this author is that in his early years he had studied Semitic languages and his father had set up the Jewish workers unions in Paris. Thus this background of the author I feel is a balance and not too biased of either Israel or the Arabs, which is a great value to have due to his end product his book is not biased and provides then more or less accurate information. Another value of this source is that it provides significant information on the creation of Israel and its past even before its creation. This then can help readers further understand the Yom Kippur war and why the Arabs did not want a state of Israel at that time. Also, another point about the author that since he was French it would further strengthen his neutrality on this sensitive topic thus further ensuring that the information was more or less accurate.
However, the limitations of this source are that the communist author writes a lot about socialism and the influence of the Soviet Union in the region. Which I feel for my investigation was not that helpful due to the sheer irrelevancy of the information. Also since the book was published 1968 I fear that some information might be out dated compared with a modern book on this issue one would find new and more detailed information on this issue.
However the other source that I chose to evaluate was “A history of Israel” by Howard M. Sachar I also felt that it had much importance and that it had contributed to my investigation. This was so because even though this source was biased, I felt that it had shown a whole different view point of the war than the other source which was not bias. This was so because the source mainly concentrates on the Jewish state and what was going on in the Israeli government during the war period. Also, it shows Jewish sentiments during the war thus this source opens up a different aspect of how to speculate this issue. Thus I feel it was valuable source to have. Also, the fact that the author writes about the past of Israel and the Jewish struggle I feel it further strengthens the reliability of this source.
Nevertheless, this source was not perfect, due to this source being bias I felt that it did not give an accurate picture of the causes of the war. Also the fact that this source concentrates on the Jews and Israel thus it does not talk a lot about the Arabs and their side of the story. Thus I felt that this was a let down for my investigation.
ANALYSIS:
The events prior to the Yom Kippur war need to be all taken to account if one is to achieve a thorough understanding on why the war actually broke out. Thus, one dates the first cause of the war all the way back to the Belfour Declaration. Which was a declaration issued on November 17 1917 by the British which insured the Jews a “national home” in the state of Palestine. This was not taken well by the Arabs, due to it was their belief on it is their home and it is unjust for the Jews to be given a home on their land. However this was undermined at the time due to it was British mandate at the time. However, one knows that in the future it would come back and haunt the Jews; which is mentioned in the source “Israel and the Arabs”.
As the Belfour Declaration promised a new Jewish state was created, on May 15 1948. This state was immediately created after the horrors seen against the Jews in WWII by the Nazis. However, as the source “Israel and the Arabs” said the Arab resentment of the new Jewish state would haunt Israel by an immediate declaration of war by 6 Arab nations. Thus on May 15 1948 the war of independence was fought, the outcome was that Israel had managed to win an outstanding win over the humiliated Arab nations. The Arab aim of this war was to destroy the new Jewish state and reinstate a Palestinian government, thus there would be a complete Arab presence in the Middle East. However, due to the loss that they achieved in the war this aim was to become their mission through out the years to come. Egypt was the most powerful Arab nation at the time and Nasser the president pushed this thought through various events. However, the loss of this war gained Israel 50% more land after an armistice on April 3 1949 was signed between the two sides. This meant that Israel received 50% more land than what was originally allocated to them by the UN. This further motivated the Arab nations to pursue their mission of eradicating Israel, the most aggressive of all the Arab leaders Nasser of Egypt demonstrated this intention and belief first.
He did this 7 years after the War of Independence was fought the Suez campaign arose on October 29 1956, because of Nasser deciding to put pressure on Israel by closing down the Tiran straits and the Suez Canal. Israel retaliated by invading the Egyptian Sinai region, to humiliate Nasser and his armies; Israel only returns the Sinai region when it is forced to withdraw by the UN. Nasser had done this to isolate Israel by stopping all Israeli vessels to pass through; this meant Israel could not receive or send goods, which took a huge toll to the Israeli economy. Nasser thought he could suffocate Israel until they give in to the Arab demands, also with a rebuilt Arab army prior the war, Nasser was more confident that Israel would give in. However, Nasser underestimated the strength of Israel thus he humiliated himself in front of his Arab nations, also the fact that the USA guaranteed right of passage to Israel in the Suez canal, further made Nasser powerless and humiliated.
To compensate for his humiliation during and after the Suez campaign was launched. Nasser once again closes the straits to Israel ships this time on May 1967. This time Nasser was determined to go out in a full out war if he must due to he received backing from other Arab nations. Thus Nasser was now more confident and would not allow right of passage to the Israeli ships. Nasser’s clear aim of aggression towards Israel was shown when a series of talks were held between him and the USA to reopen the straits had failed which meant that Israel’s only solution was to declare war, which Nasser was hoping for. The source “History of Israel” mentions Nasser being stubborn and very provocative towards the Israelis thus he wanted war. Thus on June 5 1967 Nasser got his war, but again it ended in his side being humiliated once more due to the Israeli forces destroying the Egyptian forces during this 6 day war. Nasser had to eat his words during the aftermath of the war, he was once again defeated but this time the Arab nations lost land: Jordan lost its west bank and Syria its Golan Heights. However in the name of peace the UN forced Israel to give them back which they did. The aggression policy towards Israel by Nasser failed miserably, Nasser tried to suffocate the Israeli state and threatened it with its forces, but the swift attack by Israel truly showed that the Arab nations were not ready to back Nasser’s words and actions due to the their forces were to weak compared to Israel’s’.
Nasser’s final effort to eradicate Jewish presence in the Middle East came when he launched the war of attrition. Thus breaking the cease fire he continued his aggressive policy, however again one can say that this last effort was a failure due to it ended up as a stale mate and both sides gained heavy casualties. This last effort of his one can say was an act of desperation to reinstate his power and influence within the Arab community, to show Egypt was not weak. However this had failed to an extent, and in August 1970 a second cease fire was signed between Sadat who was Nasser’s successor due to Nasser had died before the cease fire was signed. Unlike Nasser, Sadat wanted peace by all means, he held talks between Israel and the Arab nations but they all ended up as failure due to Israel thought that Arabs were in a bad state it was in the power seat and that Arabs would have to come to Israel’s terms and no other way. However, Sadat warned Israel that if a peaceful agreement would not be reached, Sadat would wage war to achieve it. This was not taken seriously by the Israelis, thus on October 6 1973 the Arabs launched a surprise attack on Israel which started the Yom Kippur war. Israel’s stubbornness one can say caused the short term cause of the Yom Kippur war it’s arrogance triggered off the last solution for Sadat to achieve peace. However, one can say that Nasser’s aggression created Israel’s arrogance and now with the chance to give back the hostility to the Arabs since Israel was in the power seat, Israel would not give it up and with its confidence over the years they could neglect any Arab terms proposed.
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, one can say that post WWII it was necessary for the Jews to have a state of their own which they could call home. This mainly due to prevent another holocaust from occurring again, thus the birth place of Judaism was given to the Jews as their own state, Israel was created. However, the Palestinians and the Arab nations surrounding Israel obviously were not pleased with this, thus Nasser’s plans of putting aggression policies towards Israel were widely accepted in the region. Even though Nasser had failed over and over to achieve his aim of throwing out the Jewish state in an Arab “ocean” the Middle East. Thus after, Nasser had died his aggressive policies had given Israel a negative impression, thus when Sadat came to power his peaceful solutions were neglected, therefore Sadat's impatience got the best of him and thus he declared war on Israel and started off the Yom Kippur war.