The War in October I 1973

[dexter]

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat once called it the last war. But four decades after Sadat uttered those words, the Arab-Israeli conflict has no end in sight. The story of the war that Egyptians call the October War and Israelis known as the Yom Kippur War has never been thoroughly explored.

So what happened during those three weeks in October 1973?

To this day, both sides – Arabs and Israelis – claim to be the victors.

It was a war that brought the world to the brink of a nuclear confrontation between two global superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union.

It also gave the world a fuel crisis and a new entry in the dictionary ‘Shuttle Diplomacy’, as Henry Kissinger, the US Secretary of State, flew from country to country in an effort to broker a peace deal.

Egypt’s 2011 revolution and the toppling of the old regime resulted in the discovery and opening of many previously undisclosed files related to the war in October. It provided us with unprecedented access to participants in it and to the places where they fought.

The War in October draws on rare film archives selected from many sources around the world, along with graphic illustrations, maps, and animated sequences to plot the movements of forces in the many battlefields of the conflict.

The series features interviews with people who planned and fought in the three weeks of battles that took place on both the Egyptian and Syrian front, including characters from other countries that participated in the fighting – Iraqi, Jordanian, Moroccan, and Palestinian. The interviewees include experts, diplomats, officials, and members of the military from the US, the former Soviet Union, and Europe.

 

[dexter]

Episode two begins in the heat of the battle of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War 50 years ago.

Egyptian tanks had made a successful amphibious crossing of the Suez Canal and retaken part of the Sinai. And in the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967, a fierce battle raged between Syrian and Israeli forces.

In the first five days of the war, Israeli losses alone in the Golan Heights amounted to 250 tanks and hundreds of men.

These decisive opening days of the war saw both sides make significant gains but at the same time, suffer heavy losses.

It was a battle that would continue for several more months - and five decades later, the political fallout from this conflict is still being felt in parts of the Middle East.

 

[dexter]

In the last of a three-part series marking 50 years since the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, soldiers and politicians relive the battle and beyond.

The term “shuttle diplomacy” was first used to describe US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's meetings in Moscow, Egypt, and Israel, when all the parties involved sought a diplomatic solution to the conflict. At the same time, a massive US airlift began to carry weapons to Israel, while Arab armies were equipped with the latest Soviet armaments.

The war of weapons, diplomacy, and a media battle was at its most intense for three weeks - but it took 243 days for both sides to sign a peace agreement. Both Egypt and Israel still claim to be the victors today.