What were the key features of the Yom Kippur War 1973

The Syrian forces moved into the Golan Height, outnumbering the Israeli army 12 to 1, with 1,100 Syrian tanks, against 175 Israeli tanks. Israel for the first few days suffered hundreds of casualties and lost nearly 150 planes; due to the Soviets weapons being highly affective, such as SAGGAR’s which were anti-tank missiles. America saw it as their duty to supply Israel, giving them a vast amount of weapons including anti-missile-missiles to beat the Soviets SAM’s and phantom jets. The tide of the war began to turn on the 10th October, in which the Syrians were pushed back. The Soviet Union Responded by sending airlifts to Damascus and Cairo, this was soon answered on the 12th and 13th October by a massive US airlift to Israel. The war became a second front for the Cold War, which could have lead to another World War. The Israelis destroyed the Egyptian army, who had moved beyond the cover, or umbrella, of the SAMS on the Canal. The Israeli forces won a huge tank battle at the Chinese Farm on the 15 to 17th October, as a result crossed the Suez Canal and surrounded the Egyptian Third Army on the 21st October, under the leadership of Ariel Sharon. War became international crises when the Soviet Union threatened to send in troops. Henry Kissinger, the US secretary of state, was sent to Moscow to negotiate a cease-fire. Kissinger managed to agree to the UN revolution 338, which pronounced an immediate cease-fire. However, this cease-fire was broken and again the Soviets threatened to intervene. America then forced Israel into accepting a second seize-fire which was signed on the 25th October 1973.

The war revealed how dependant Israel was for American aid, with Americas supplies being a significant factor deciding the outcome of the war. America had given Israel $2.3 billion in an attempt to salvage Israel from a humiliating defeat, Russia giving $3.5 billion to the Arab countries involved. The war destroyed Israel’s image of an invincible army, killing 2,800 Israeli soldiers, whilst the Arabs lost 16,000 soldiers. The war gave the Arabs a belief and confidence in what they would pursue in the future, making Sadat a hero. One Arab newspaper said, ‘The Yom Kippur War has marked the survival of the Arab fighting spirit’. However a key consequence from the war was a vast increase in oil prices; prices rose up to 70%, which led to worldwide inflation and recessions in 1974-75. This economic slump gave the Arab oil-exporting countries the idea in which they would be able to punish pro-Israeli countries. After the war a UN Disengagement Observer Force occupied a buffer zone between Israel and Syrian forces, in an attempt to stop any future conflicts. The war taught Egypt and Israel, but not Syria, that some move towards each other would be needed to stop constant war.