We explain what the 1973 Arab-Israeli war was, which countries faced and what its main causes were.
What was the Second Arab-Israeli War?
1973's Second Arab-Israeli War was A war conflict in which Syria and Egypt met against the state of Israel . This war is also known with the names “War of Yom Kippur” and “Ramadan War”, since it passed during those Jewish and Muslim festivities.
The confrontation is in the broadest framework of the Arab-Israeli conflict for the dispute of the territories of the former Palestine, the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the Golán Altos. This war is the fourth war confrontation between Israel and neighboring Arab states since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, after the First Arab-Israeli War (1948), the crisis of the Suez Canal (1956) and the Six Day War (1967).
The Arab-Israeli conflict
The Arab-Israeli conflict over the dispute of the territory that corresponded to the British mandate of Palestine began with Jewish migration to the region at the end of the 19th century and its intensification in the 1920s and 1930s. By 1940, the confrontation between the Jewish population, the Arab population and the British authorities became violent . In 1948, when the United Kingdom officially retired from the island, the First Arab-Israeli War broke out that ended with the victory of the Jewish side and its appropriation of almost 80 % of the territory of Palestine.
The Arab-Palestine population had to exile and settled as a refugee in neighboring Arab countries, especially in Egypt and Syria. The countries of the Arab League did not recognize the new state of Israel and claimed the replacement of the territories to the Palestinians.
In the following decades, the state of Israel entered war with Egypt and Syria (in the 1956 Suez channel crisis and in the Six Day War of 1967) and managed to extend its borders again. At that time, The United States and the Soviet Union began to get involved directly and the Arab-Israeli conflict was affected by the political rivalries of the Cold War.
On the other hand, in 1964 the Palestine Liberation Organization (OLP) was founded under the amparo of the Arab League. The OP joined different political and paramilitary movements with The declared objective of destroying the state of Israel to recover the Palestinian territories and allow the return of the Arabs expelled in 1948. In turn, he claimed for the right of self -determination of the Palestinian people (right defended by UN and international human rights pacts).
At the end of the Six Day War (1967), the UN sued the State of Israel to return the territories occupied through the military conflict (the Golán Altos to Syria and the Peninsula of the Sinai to Egypt). The state of Israel refused and continued with its militarization policy. For their part, Egypt and Syria continued to claim the return of their territories.
In that context, The PLO became the main organization of the Palestinian people and turned to the guerrillas against the state of Israel . Fatah, the main armed organization of the PLU, undertook attacks from Jordan.
However, with the growth of the power of the Palestinian organizations in the country, King Jordano Huseín decided to expel much of the Palestinian refugees and the guerrillas had to relocate in Lebanon, from where their attacks on Israel continued.
Background of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War
After the six -day war and despite international claims from the UN (Resolution 242 of the Security Council) and the different Arab nations, The state of Israel built fortification lines and militarized the territories in dispute : The Sinai, the Golán Altos and the Suez Canal.
In 1970, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser died and was happened by Anwar Sadat. The new president declared himself willing to file peace if Israel fulfilled the provisions of the UN and withdrew the troops from the occupied territories. The state of Israel rejected the statement. However, he continued the path of diplomacy to obtain the support of the whole of the Arab League, the movement of the non -aligned countries and the organization of the African unit against Israel.
For its part, Syrian leader Hafez-Al-Asad believed that the territories would only be recovered by force And, in recent years, he invested in the military development of the country and made his army grow.
Finally, with the conviction that there was no other way to break the status quoSadat decided to recover the territories by force and, together with Asad, prepared for war.
Development of the Second Arab-Israeli War of 1973
On October 6, 1973, Syria and Egypt simultaneously invaded the territories occupied by Israel. On this date, Yom Kipur's Jewish festival was celebrated and, in turn, Muslims were crossing the month of Ramadan (that is why the war is also known with these names). The Egyptian troops advanced on the Suez Canal and the Syrian reached the Golán Altos.
Although the attack took it by surprise, The state of Israel counteratacó and, by October 8, its troops repelled the Arab militias they regained control over the territories in dispute and advanced on the borders of the enemy countries. Israeli armies came to approach a few kilometers from Cairo (capital of Egypt) and Damascus (capital of Syria).
Given this situation, Saudi Arabia (one of the main sources of oil worldwide) pressed the United States (its main client) to stop the advance of Israel (from whom the United States was the main ally). Finally, With the UN mediation, a high fire was established for October 24, 1973 . The agreement implied the withdrawal of the Israeli troops of the Suez Canal and the Golán Altos, which were occupied by the UN Peace Forces.
Results of the Second Arab-Israeli War (1973)
Technically, the war ended with the victory of Israel. However, the United States and UN pressure led to the troops of the State of Israel to ride and the territories claimed by Syria and Egypt were occupied by the UN peace forces.
On the other hand, the first days of the war showed that the Israeli army was not invincible and that the containment of the progress of the Arab troops implied a great popular mobilization and was at the expense of a large number of military casualties.
In addition to The almost 15,000 dead of the conflict (8,500 Arabs and about 6,000 Israelis) the 1973 war had important repercussions: the alignment of the Arab countries with the USSR became narrower, the invincibility image of the Israeli army was destroyed and Israel became more dependent on the US.
Finally, one of the greatest consequences of the conflict was that The war led to the organization of petroleum exporting countries decided an increase in oil price . Almost immediately a serious worldwide economic crisis was triggered, known as the “oil crisis.”
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References
- Beinin, J., & Hajjar, L. (2014). Palestine, Israel and The Arab-Israeli Conflict. Middle East Research and Information Project.
- Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia (2023). “Yom Kippur War.” Britannica Encyclopedia https://www.britannica.com/
- Palmowski, J. (2000). “Israel” and “Yom Kippur War”. To Dictionary of Twentieth-Century World History. Oxford University Press.
- Van Dijk, R., Gray, WG, Savranskaya, S., Suri, J., & Zhai, Q. (eds.). (2013). “Yom Kippur War.” Encyclopedia of the Cold War. Routledge.
