BICOM

This weekend marks forty years since the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, which resulted in an Israeli military victory, but also led to the deaths of more than 2,500 Israeli soldiers. Recollections of the war and new revelations regarding its build up have been a major focus in the Israeli media this week.

The surprise nature of the attack by Syria and Egypt in 1973 left Israel questioning its military and intelligence capability and led to the Agranat Commission of inquiry which investigated the decisions made by Israel’s civilian and military leadership prior to hostilities. This week, previously unseen testimony from the Agranat Commission was released by Israel’s Defence Ministry for publication for the first time. The evidence of then Prime Minister Golda Meir is covered widely today by Maariv, Israel Hayom and Yediot Ahronot.

In a revealing set of documents, Meir told the commission that she was uncertain about military affairs and had found herself making military decisions for the first time. She said that her “heart was very much drawn to” a pre-emptive strike on the eve of the war but that she was “scared,” feared losing the support of the United States and worried that the military wasn’t sufficiently prepared. Asked why the army’s reserves had not been called up earlier, Meir explained that she did not want the Arab countries to think that Israel was preparing a strike.

Meanwhile, Jewish Israelis are preparing today for Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) which begins at sundown this evening and ends at nightfall tomorrow. Most Jewish Israelis will spend the day fasting and praying in what is predicted to be the hottest Yom Kippur for more than a decade. YNet reports that police and security forces are on high alert to avert any friction in sensitive locations such as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.