The Yom Kippur War

The role of the Middle East has been very crucial to the United States, especially after WWII. The U.S. had three strategic goals in the Middle East and consistently followed them throughout various events that unfolded in the region. First, with the emergence of the cold war between the Soviet Union and the U.S., policymakers began to recognize the importance of the Middle East as a strategic area in containing Soviet influence. This also coincides with the U.S. becoming increasingly wary of Arab nationalism and the threat it posed to U.S. influence. Secondly, the emergence of the new Israeli state in 1948 further deepened U.S. policy and involvement in the region while also creating friction between the U.S. and Arab states which were

The Yom Kippur War happened in October 1973, which involved the Arabs and the Israelis, as well as two superpowers, the USA and the USSR. At the end of the war, the Israelis had won. However, the Israeli government and people were shocked by how the Arabs did. The Yom Kippur War has led to a number of effects on the Arab-Israeli relations, which can be classified as two aspects, short term and long term.

Since his presidency did not begin with Israel becoming a state, his focus was greatly adjusted and at first there was a noticeable decline in aid and care for Israel’s wellbeing. Israel was also rather vulnerable during this time, due to the fact that there more Jewish refugees entering Israel from surrounding Arab states. President Eisenhower convincingly proved that America had the ability to influence Israel in a good way, although his presidency ended with the Middle East still in a state of war. During Eisenhower’s administration, there were two successful incidents of U.S. management of Israel and in both circumstances, Eisenhower avoided the political compulsions of America’s attachment to Israel and instead forced the Israelis to act upon principle. Unfortunately, his presidency was the last to give Israel undivided focus, for the ones to follow were absorbed in other affairs and did not provide the same constructive support.

• President Carter arranged the Camp David Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt. (In the Middle East, America favored the country of Israel. The Soviet Union favored Israel’s Arab neighbors.)

The superpowers, namely the USSR and US were in engaged in a war by proxy, which is very easy to identify if you analyze the conflicts in the Middle East from 1948 until, and including, the Yom Kippur War of 1978. The superpowers would employ tactics such as supplying their various ‘allies’ in the Middle East with weapons and finances which would afford them the ability to engage in the many conflicts that took place in that period such as the Suez Crisis, Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War. All of this was done without either superpower’s putting their own men on the ground to fight, for fear of an all out war between each other. However much the superpowers might have fuelled the conflicts with supplying the Arabs and Israelis with weapons and finances, they were not the cause for the conflicts as they are much deeper rooted. Israel and the Arab states have always seen tension as per their culture and religious differences, and the growing nationalism of the Arab states and Zionism in Israel, which amounted to extreme actions such as the three major conflicts during the time period 1956-1978.

The Crusades, a series of wars, are an extremely important part of history in the 12th century, occurring during the Middle Ages. The Middle East or the Holy Land was always a place that Christians traveled to to make pilgrimages. The Seljuk Turks eventually took control of Jerusalem and all Christians were not allowed in the Holy City. As the Turks power grew, they threatened to take over the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople. The Byzantine Emperor, Alexius I, asked Pope Urban II for help and Pope agreed, hoping to strengthen his own power. He He united the Christians in Europe and In 1095, Pope Urban II waged waged war against muslims in order to “reclaim the holy land.”

Since then, Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War the two most major conflicts between the Israelis and the Arabs. The former, in 1967, was a show of superior military force from Israel, launching preemptive strikes after battles were being fought between them and Arab forces. In 1973, Syrian and Egyptian armies launched a surprise attack while Israel was observing Yom Kippur. The war that followed lasted only 20 days, but cost at least 10 thousand lives. In 1978, The Egyptian President and Prime Minister of Israel met with Jimmy Carter in Camp David in order to attempt establishing peace in the Middle East. The resulting document, the Camp David Accords, states, “The agreed basis for a

Most important agreement was between US and Israel then between Israel and Egypt (Telhamy 630).

King Solomon in the Proverbs declares that “For though the righteous fall seven times, they always get back up.” (New International Version, Prov. 24:16). The time of 66 to 73 AD was an era of turmoil throughout the Roman Empire. Many strains of beliefs and philosophies were being formed, widely spread, and persecuted, like that of the early Christians. Yet, at the same time, the ancient religion of the Jews was also a grand source of persecution that is often neglected to be taught. The Jewish Wars that were fought during this time resulted in a horrific amount of deaths and feuds, the destruction of the Temple, as well as the disappearance and shifting of various sects. But, it also resulted in the unification and collaboration of various

In an effort to establish himself and his knowledge with international affairs, Carter immersed himself in learning about the Middle East and did a tour in 1973 through Israel, Palestine, Egypt, and Syria. Before the Camp David Accords, the situation between Israel and every other Middle Eastern country was delicate and heightened by constant guerilla attacks back and forth. While Israel had Western support, their successive militant governments established settlements along the Jordan River as well as military occupation throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip pushing Palestinian refugees into Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and the edge of the Gaza Strip. While occupying Palestinian lands in 1967, the United Nations issued Resolution 242 calling for Israel to withdrawal from lands acquired by war and work toward peace as well as settling the refugee problem.

Militaries, intelligence analysts, and policy makers have had to face complex and delicate problems like issues of surprise attacks in their respective countries. Such rare occurrences are particularly true for nations like Israel, as demonstrated in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War. It was on October 6, 1973, the “Day of Atonement” for Jews locally called Yom Kippur, when Israel was surprisingly attacked along its Golan Heights and on its positions in the much-contested Sinai Peninsula by Syrian and Egyptian forces. The invaders had an advantage over their rivals as most Israeli soldiers were observing Yom Kippur away from their usual posts. The vaunted Israeli commanders sent the Israeli Defense Forces reeling, eventually beating back the offensive.

By 1978 the thirty-year war that had been fought between Egypt and Israel had come to a point where there was a chance for peace. The area that had been at the center of the turmoil was the West Bank of the Jordan River and the Gaza Strip. The problem was that both countries believed that they had the rights to this land: Israel, biblically and Egypt, politically. So an invitation by President Jimmy Carter to President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel was extended. The invitation was for a meeting in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland at the presidential retreat, Camp David. The meeting was so that the framework of a peace agreement, known as the Camp David

In October of 1973, a war between the Arabic states of Egypt and Syria and the state of Israel broke out known as the Yom Kippur War. Being vastly overwhelmed by the Arabic states in terms of sheer volume of troops and equipment, Israel turned toward its ally in the West, the United States. With profound diplomatic pressure from multiple Arabic states, the United States found itself in an increasingly difficult position. In an effort to create the best outcome for America in both the Middle East and the global theatre, the United States made the decision, knowing full well the possible consequences, to help supply Israel during the Yom Kippur War.

Many of the problems in the Middle East today are a direct result of actions undertaken in the region 's colonial past. I will argue that both imperialist ineptitude, deliberate meddling and outright deceit by colonial powers have sown seeds of distrust that linger in the Middle East today towards the West. I will claim that artificial boundaries, government structures and societal schisms created in colonial times have entrenched animosities and created internal structural instabilities in the area that are still being resolved. The imposition of Israel into Palestine, I will argue, remains an unresolved product of colonial rule. I will discuss how the discovery of oil and the regions importance as a trade route caused the World Powers to remain engaged in the area and oppressive in their demeanour. Finally I will argue that perhaps the greatest ongoing legacy of colonialism in the Middle east is an imperialist attitude by the west which continues to this day.

the conflict in the middle east between 1948-1973 was not purely fuelled by the interest and concerns of the superpowers but rather of a series of conflictual incidents, aswell as the main wars that took place from the years from 1948-1967 such as the: 1948 War, The Six Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur war of 1973. But although the conflict was not fuelled by the superpowers, the influence of the superpowers and the reach of the superpowers into the Middle East was evident in the years both prior and following 1978. But even despite the influence and interests of the superpowers between and including 1948-1967 being undeniably evident, the extent of this influence cannot be said to have “fuelled the conflict”.