David Rodman - Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War: Diplomacy, Battle, and Lessons

This book provides an excellent and concise survey of both the diplomatic and military dimensions of a pivotal clash of arms, and a balanced and up-to-date assessment of previous writings on the subject. It will be indispensable to students and researchers of Israel and its armed forces, and will engross all interested in the complexities of one of the most important chapters in the history of the modern Middle East. Stuart A. Cohen, author of Israel and Its Army

A brilliant re-examination of one of the most traumatic events in Israels history by a leading scholar of the Arab Israeli conflict. A must read. Efraim Karsh, author of Palestine Betrayed

The authors study will easily find a prominent place in the literature on Israels military history and that of the Yom Kippur war. His writing is clear and the style uncomplicated, making this book an excellent reference for anyone, layman or expert, seeking both an overview of Israel in the 1973 war and insight into several highly salient facets of that round of fighting. Zach Levey, author of Israel and the Western Powers, 1952 1960

A fascinating account, which will be of interest both to experts and the general public. Relying on primary sources, Rodman provides important new insights into a war that transformed Israels history. Chuck Freilich, author of Israeli National Security: A New Strategy for an Era of Change

The State of Israel faced one of its most difficult challenges during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Though the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) eventually emerged as the clear victor in the war, it suffered serious reverses at the outset of hostilities, as well as substantial losses in men and equipment. This book revisits the Yom Kippur War by exploring a number of issues that have not previously received the attention they deserve or that would benefit from a fresh evaluation. Among the issues examined are: the AmericanIsraeli and JordanianIsraeli relationships during the war; the roles of Israeli nuclear weapons and airpower; the IDFs practice of combined arms warfare; the reasons why the IDF turned the tide of the war more quickly on the Golan front than on the Sinai front; the impact of American arms transfers; and the lessons derived from the war by the United States Army and the IDF.

This book, which relies heavily on government documents and other primary sources of information, fills important descriptive and analytical gaps in the academic literature about the Yom Kippur War.

David Rodman is the author of Defense and Diplomacy in Israels National Security Experience: Tactics, Partnerships, and Motives, Arms Transfers to Israel: The Strategic Logic Behind American Military Assistance, and Sword and Shield of Zion: The Israel Air Force in the Arab Israeli Conflict, 1948 2012, all Sussex Academic Press books. He has also published numerous articles on the ArabIsraeli conflict in various professional journals.

To all of the Israel Defense Forces soldiers who fell in the war

Copyright David Rodman, 2017.

Published in the Sussex Academic e-Library, 2017.

SUSSEX ACADEMIC PRESS

PO Box 139

Eastbourne BN24 9BP, UK

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-1-78284-364-1 (e-pub)

ISBN 978-1-78284-365-8 (e-mobi)

ISBN 978-1-78284-366-5 (e-pdf)

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The AmericanIsraeli Relationship

The IsraeliJordanian Relationship

Nuclear Arms, Deterrence, and Compellence

Israeli Combined Arms Warfare

Israeli Resurgence on the Golan versus in the Sinai

Israeli Airpower in the Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars

The Impact of American Arms Transfers to Israel

The American Assessment

The Israeli Response

A number of the chapters in this book are based upon previously published work. are updated versions of the following articles, respectively: Friendly Enemies: Israel and Jordan in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs 6/1 (2012), and The Impact of Arms Transfers to Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs 7/3 (2013). I would like to thank editors Laurence Weinbaum and Yvette Shumacher for extending permission to make use of these articles here. Chapter 4 is a revised version of Combined Arms Warfare: The Israeli Experience in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Defence Studies 15/2 (June 2015). I would like to thank editor David J. Galbreath for granting permission to include this article here. Chapter 6 is a revised version of The Israel Air Force in the 1967 and 1973 Wars: Revisiting the Historical Record, Israel Affairs 16/2 (April 2010). I would like to thank editor Efraim Karsh for extending permission to incorporate the article into this book. Chapter 8 is a revised version of Eagles-eye View: An American Assessment of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Intelligence and National Security 31/4 (June 2016). I would like to thank editor Loch K. Johnson for granting permission to make use of this article here. And I also would like to thank the journals division of the Taylor & Francis Group, , for extending permission to include articles from the aforementioned journals in this book. Finally, I would like to thank the Israel Government Press Office for granting permission to reprint photos from its National Photo Collection in this book.