Let October 1973 war , be the last in the Middle East

Since the Arab liberation war of 1973, the Middle East (ME) scene has considerably changed. Thus, the outcome of October war moved the region from climate of conflict to that of peace; from antagonism to co-existence and regional cooperation; from the language of power to that of law and treaties; from battlefields to negotiating tables.

Following 1973 war, peace has been established between Israel and Egypt, then Jordan. Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have culminated into Oslo accords, the beginning of the peace march towards solving the Palestinian issue. All those accomplishments were the outcome of October war. The lesson learned by peoples of the region as rightly voiced by late President Sadat in his address to the Kennest; was that October war should be the last in the (ME) .

The 1973 October war changed the psychology of the people in the ME, making it possible for them to accept the other, opening the door before peaceful co-existence.
The foundations of such co-existence have been laid down through long and hard rounds of negotiations where leaders managed to transfer the Arab-Israeli conflict from the War fronts to the negotiating tables. A new era started in the ME involving direct contacts between countries, which had to further build up a legal system allowing problems to be solved through peaceful means based on international legitimacy resolutions, particularly resolutions No. 242 and 338 and the land-for-peace formula. This legal system would inevitably maintain justice as a prelude to peace and stability away from wars and clashes.

On another plane, peace and security arrangements continued to be made along the road of building confidence among parties, particularly following the sophistication of arms in the region since the October War. Work started in building regional cooperation among Middle East countries, and boosting their economic development efforts, to make up for more than 50 years of conflict.

Hence comes the importance of the achievements of the October war. On October 6, 1973, the Arab forces launched military operations against Israel to regain the occupied territories, to free the Arab will and to break the then-called long arm of Israel.

Before 1973 war, the theory of Israeli security was based on the overwhelming military supremacy, the invincible army that can speedily move the battle to the enemy territory by blitzkiegs well suited to Israel's limited human resources, ignoring the international legitimacy resolutions and depending on US support.

October war has to demonstrate the ability of the Arab fighter to use the state-of-the-art technology either in air strikes, missile air defence, or even via infantry-borne missiles that could neutralize enemy armoured vehicles.

The October War is an outstanding landmark in contemporary military thought. This war has reversed many military theories, which have remained rigid for long years. The war has proved it was possible to make a surprise attack, cross the most difficult water barrier; the Suez Canal and cut through the strongest defense fortifications, such as the Barlev line. Most important, the October War proved that the combatant is the most significant element in the battlefield, given that the Egyptian soldier successfully managed to overcome what was called "the technological gap between armies". On October 6, the crossing battle started. Successfully crossing the Suez Canal, the Egyptian forces seized the Barlev line and hoisted the Egyptian flag on the land of Sinai. At zero-hour, 220 Egyptian aircrafts flew to Sinai, dealing devastating blows to the enemy over the first ten days of fight. Israel had lost half of its armoured forces and one third of the air forces. Had it not been for the US airlift to Israel, it would have withdrawn from all Arab territories occupied in June 1967.

Within less than 6 hours from the beginning of the battle, more than 80,000 Egyptian infantry troops crossed to the east bank of the Canal. Within 24 hours, four infantry and armored divisions occupied a 5-kilometre area east of the Suez Canal.
As a result of the coordination between the air strike and preparatory artillery fire, the crossing of infantry personnel and the erection of bridges and crossovers across the Suez Canal, mechanical and armoured troops flowed into Sinai smoothly and thoroughly, leading to loss of balance of Israeli movement.

The war provided a proof of the efficiency and high combat capability of the Egyptian army, which emerged from the war as one of the most powerful military institutions in the world. The war reflected the best image of Arab solidarity, resulting in the use of oil as a weapon in the service of the Arab cause.

The war gave a severe psychological shock to the Israeli people, as it proved that they were facing a powerful opponent. Thus, Israeli leadership had to reconsider the situation in the light of the collapse of the Israeli security theory and the fallacy of the invincible Israeli army. The October War caused the superpowers to give serious consideration to the question of peace in the Middle East.

A most important outcome of the October War was that it paved the way for achieving a peace based on justice. Accordingly, Egypt launched its battle for peace until the Egyptian-Israeli peace accord was signed on March 26, 1979. On May 26, 1979, the first phase of Israeli withdrawal from Sinai started, and the final phase of withdrawal was completed on May 25, 1982. The issue of Taba was brought to arbitration, ending up with the International Arbitration Tribunal, on September 29, 1988, adjudging Taba as a purely Egyptian territory.

And today, one could easily figure out that the peace march that was launched in 1973, has lost its impetus .
Since Israeli Premier Sharon assumed office, as the Israeli extremist rightist powers, that adopt expansionist policy, and deny the Palestinian rights, have emerged once again, to run the Israeli show. They reneged on the Oslo accord, thus blowing up all grounds for a peaceful settlement. Hence comes the importance of underlying the significance of 1973 October war which demonstrated the futility of imposing fait accompli policy at the expense of the Arabs and the Palestinian people.

On March 28, 2002, one day after the Arab summit meeting in Beirut issued its resolutions, offering just peace to Israel, the Israeli forces invaded the Palestinian self-rule areas and destroyed the infrastructure of the Palestinian self-rule based on Oslo agreements. The Israeli forces seized the September 11th events, and cordoned the Palestinian leadership, bringing back the policing of arrogant power to the ME arena. Israel also destroyed the principles of co-existence among peoples of the region, which have been difficulty laid down over the past years as of the disengagement agreements on October 22, 1973 till Sharm El-Sheikh negotiations in 2000, which were attended by US President, Israeli Premier and Arafat.

The Israeli government reneging on Oslo accords means retrogression from the framework of peaceful co-existence between the Arabs and the Israelis. In so doing, Israel refused to implement Oslo agreement and did not complete second-phase negotiations with the Palestinians, but rather devastated legal base for solving the Palestinian issue, the core and crux of the Arab-Israel conflict.
By invading the PA territories, the Israeli forces did not only destroy the Israeli Palestinian peace march, but also torpedoed the thrust of the peace process and consequently blocked regional cooperation.

Peace on both Syrian and Lebanese tracks has come to a deadlock. In other words tension and potential risks still overshadow the ME region.
The Likud governments have failed to maintain peace framework on Palestinian track and push the region to new climate of pre-October 1973, overriding principles of Oslo accords. Israel now poses as an unprecedented and dangerous example of a country that does not respect the already signed agreements as long as it can evade, by force, obligations of agreements.

Middle East peoples and all peace-loving countries have to remember the developments that furthered the region to rush into 1973 war. Such countries have to assimilate the core of President Sadat's call that the 1973 war should be the last in the ME.
But, it seems it would not be, in view of the Israeli policies of extremism, which bring the region back into tension.
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October war has demonstrated to the peoples of the region that just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue and the ME conflict is the only way to peace and security for all peoples of the region. It has also demonstrated that all arrangements that do not realize this end would inevitably be faced by the will and determination of peoples seeking to maintain their independence and all rights.