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Syrian Military Buiildup
After the Six-Day War, Assad had launched a massive military buildup and hoped to make Syria the dominant military power of the Arab states. -
Six-Day War Ends
During the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel had captured Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, roughly half of Syria's Golan Heights, and the territories of the West Bank which had been held by Jordan since 1948. The Arab position, as it emerged in September 1967 at the Khartoum Arab Summit, was to reject any peaceful settlement with the state of Israel. The parties agreed there would be no peace, no recognition and no negotiation with Israel. -
War of Attrition
On March 8, 1969, Nasser proclaimed the official launch of the War of Attrition, characterized by large-scale shelling along the Suez Canal, extensive aerial warfare and commando raids in an attempt to wear down the Israeli position through long-term pressure. Hostilities continued until August 1970 and ended with a ceasefire, the frontiers remaining the same as when the war began, with no real commitment to serious peace negotiations. -
Ceasefire - War of Attrition
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Egyptian Military Buildup
From the end of 1972, Egypt began a concentrated effort to build up its forces, receiving MiG-21 jet fighters, SA-2, SA-3, SA-6 and SA-7 antiaircraft missiles, T-55 and T-62 tanks, RPG-7 antitank weapons, and the AT-3 Sagger anti-tank guided missile from the Soviet Union and improving its military tactics, based on Soviet battlefield doctrines. Political generals, who had in large part been responsible for the rout in 1967, were replaced with competent ones.[82] -
Egyptian Saber-Rattling / Indicator 1
In an interview published in Newsweek Sadat threatened war with Israel. Several times during 1973, Arab forces conducted large-scale exercises that put the Israeli military on high alert. The Israeli leadership believed that if an attack took place, the IAF could repel it. A portion of the Egyptian population, strongly desired a war to reclaim the Sinai and was highly upset that Sadat had not launched one in his first three years in office. -
Egyptian Border Exercises - Indicator 2
For the week leading up to Yom Kippur, the Egyptian army staged a week-long training exercise adjacent to the Suez Canal. Movements of Syrian troops towards the border were also detected, as were the cancellation of leaves and a call-up of reserves in the Syrian army. Aman believed Syria they would not attack without Egypt and Egypt would not attack until the weaponry they wanted arrived. -
Arab Coalition Attack
The war began with a successful Egyptian crossing of the Suez Canal. Egyptian forces advanced virtually unopposed into the Sinai Peninsula. Assad felt that his new army could win against Israel and secure Syria's role in the region. Assad saw negotiations beginning once the Golan Heights had been retaken. Sadat hoped that by inflicting a defeat on the Israelis, the status quo could be altered. -
Israeli Assumption
The Aman assumed the Egyptians would not invade until they had successfully integrate MiG-23's into their inventories. -
IDF Halts Egyptian Offensive
After three days, Israel had mobilized most of its forces and halted the Egyptian offensive, resulting in a military stalemate -
IDF Syrian Counter Offensive
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a four-day counter-offensive deep into Syria -
Coalition Assumption
The coalition assumed overwhelming strength would lead to pressure from US and Russia for Israel to concede territory; they therefore had not plan should their limited offensives fail. -
First Ceasefire Broken
On October 22, a United Nations–brokered ceasefire unraveled -
IDF Captures Suez
October 24, the Israelis had improved their positions considerably and completed their encirclement of Egypt's Third Army and the city of Suez. -
End of Hostilities
A second ceasefire was imposed cooperatively between the US and Russia on October 25 to end the war and prevent the destruction in detail of the Egyptian armed forces as the Israeli approach onto Cairo -
Camp David Accords
The 1978 Camp David Accords that followed led to the return of the Sinai to Egypt and normalized relations—the first peaceful recognition of Israel by an Arab country