Israel before October War The 34th anniversary of the war of October 1973 coincided with statements of Israeli decision makers which uncovered the state of Israeli leaders during the days before the war. Information collected by the Israeli intelligence agencies confirmed that President Anwar El-Sadat has a real intention to launch the war, cross the Suez Canal and destroy the Bar lev Line but they refused to believe the information. Said statements reveal the position in Israel in this day as the arrogant Israeli leaders miscalculated the situation and consequently adopted wrong political and military decisions and surprised by a well-planned and implemented Egyptian attack. Former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami said, in his book published recently, that El-Sadat has warned for many times that Egypt will wage the war if Israel still intransigent. He added that the war of 1967 was a surprise because of the Israeli arrogance which led them to pay no heed to El-Sadat. In April 1973, the News Week magazine released a statement to El-Sadat in which he clearly said that the time has come for creating a shock and that he prepares for the war. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan did not trust the Egyptian threats saying that Arabs are unable to realize victory in a modern war. Former US president Henry Kissinger said after years of war of 1973 that all military reasons and considerations in 73 indicated that the Egyptian president will not adopt the decision of war because all estimates of weapons and balance of powers reveal that he will be defeated. It seems that they ignored the factor of the national will which leads fighters to liberate their occupied lands. Egypt succeeded to defeat Israel in war of 1973 as the conference which held in Washington in 1998 to evaluate the war after 25 years stated. Former Israeli and US senior officials, decision makers, politicians and military personnel participated in this conference and admitted for the first time that the air bridge established by the US succeeded to save the Israeli army. Egypt's ability to achieve victory depended on a well-planned project which succeeded in putting plans, determining targets, raising levels of training, choosing the proper time and leaders which provide guarantees of victory.
By: Atef El-Ghamry
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