[October 16, 2014] Ten years after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, I had the rare opportunity to interview an Egyptian Army General who commanded on the battlefield during this war. His perspective on the war gave me insight into the Middle East and the mindset of some of those involved. Although our conversation occurred over 30 years ago, I clearly remember his main point. He deeply believed that the Egyptian government betrayed the individual soldiers of their army by starting a war with Israel they did not think they could win. This Egyptian general’s view of that war was fairly typical of those who fought as proud Egyptians.1
The Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and his government had three strategic objectives in starting the war. To understand this general’s disappointment in his government, one must understand the goals the war was to achieve. First, by bringing war to Israel, Egypt could reclaim their honor lost in the 1967 Six Day War and reverse their humiliating defeat. Second, Egypt could regain those lost lands in the Sinai Peninsula. And third, Egypt could pave the way for a peaceful settlement of Middle East problems.
Despite the fact that the Israeli military eventually routed the Egyptians, it can be argued that all Sadat’s strategic objectives were obtained. The Arab world felt psychologically vindicated by early successes on the battlefield and led Israel to believe that there was no guarantee it would always dominate the Arab states militarily. The 1978 Camp David Accords that followed led to the return of the Sinai to Egypt and to a normalization of relations between Egypt and Israel. If all this was achieved, then why did the Egyptian general feel betrayed by Sadat and the Egyptian government?
As an army general who cared for his men, the Egyptian flag officer was convinced that Sadat had sacrificed thousands of his soldiers’ lives to the Israeli war machine for political ends; to regain honor and peace in the Middle East. For example, his unit received orders directly from the government to attack deeper into Israel than their “air umbrella” could protect them against the Israeli Air Force; causing pointless casualties. And as part of the Egyptian Third Army retreat back into the Sinai, his unit was trapped after having their supply routes cut by Israel and then threatened with total annihilation. Thus, in his eyes, the Egyptian army was again humiliated by Israel and at the hands of the Egyptian government that had elevated political gains at a severe military cost.
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[1] The 1973 war is also called the Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War, and October War. The Arab coalition was composed of Egypt and Syria, which provided the combat forces, and Iraq, Jordan, Algeria, Cuba, Morocco, and Tunisia, which were primarily support. Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on October 6 and the war ended with a UN brokered ceasefire nearly 3 weeks later on October 25.