The Yom Kippur War broke out 48 years ago today. Egypt and Syria attacked Israel by surprise on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Israel found itself on the brink of defeat. A few observations follow, with relevance today: history.com/topics/middle-…
1. Israel was vulnerable to attack then, and it is still vulnerable today. It’s small size and proximity to enemies means that it must always be vigilant, even pro-active.
2. Intelligence failures happened then, and still happen now. The Middle East is still hard to predict.
2. Intelligence failures happened then, and still happen now. The Middle East is still hard to predict.
3. American officials cynically withheld military assistance to try and gain leverage. Israel was nearly pushed to take measures that would have literally changed the map of the Middle East. Take note, Hamas Caucus.
4. Golda Meir failed hard. History treats her too kindly,
4. Golda Meir failed hard. History treats her too kindly,
5. A multi-front war is a terrible scenario for Israel. It can happen again, particularly with Hamas in the South, Hezbollah in the North, and other Iran-backed proxies in Syria, not to mention missiles from Iran itself.
Iran will be the driver of the next multi-front war.
Iran will be the driver of the next multi-front war.
6. The scars of the 1973 war are surprisingly fresh for Israel. Some 2,500 Israelis were killed and 3 times that were injured. For a grueling TV series that helps drive home this tough chapter in Israeli history, I recommend HBO’s Valley of Tears. (End)
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
