Egypt Strikes Israel: Yom Kippur War Begins

At 2:00 p.m. on October 6, 1973 — Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar — Egyptian and Syrian forces launched a coordinated surprise attack against Israel that shattered the myth of Israeli military invincibility and redrew the political map of the Middle East. Two hundred Egyptian aircraft crossed the Suez Canal simultaneously as 2,000 artillery pieces opened fire on the Bar-Lev Line, the fortified Israeli defense network along the canal's eastern bank. The timing was calculated with precision. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad chose Yom Kippur because Israeli reserves would be off duty, roads would be empty, and radio stations would be silent. Egyptian engineers had spent months rehearsing a canal crossing, developing high-pressure water cannons to blast gaps through the Israeli sand ramparts. Within hours, 32,000 Egyptian soldiers crossed the canal, overwhelmed the skeleton garrisons of the Bar-Lev Line, and established bridgeheads on the Sinai side. On the Golan Heights, 1,400 Syrian tanks — backed by mechanized infantry divisions — attacked Israeli positions defended by fewer than 180 tanks. The outnumbered Israelis fought a desperate holding action that nearly broke. At one point, Syrian forces came within range of the Sea of Galilee, and Israeli commanders discussed the use of nuclear weapons. Israel recovered through emergency mobilization, American resupply, and tactical brilliance. General Ariel Sharon identified a gap between Egyptian armies on the Sinai front and crossed the Suez Canal in the opposite direction, encircling Egypt's Third Army. On the Golan front, Israeli reserves arrived and drove the Syrians back beyond the 1967 ceasefire line. A ceasefire brokered by the United States and Soviet Union took effect on October 25. The war killed approximately 2,700 Israelis and an estimated 8,500 to 18,500 Egyptians and Syrians. Arab oil-producing states imposed an embargo on nations supporting Israel, quadrupling oil prices and triggering a global economic crisis. The conflict's political aftermath led directly to the Camp David Accords five years later, which established peace between Egypt and Israel — the first such agreement between Israel and any Arab state.