The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East

Abraham Rabinovich's "The Yom Kippur War" is the counterpart to Michael B. Oren's "Six Days of War" as the definitive books covering those two Middle East conflicts. Anybody wanting to cover the period between 1967-1973 and the two conflicts which bookmark that timeline will not need any other sources than the works by Rabinovich and Oren. We continue to live with the consequences of the 1967 War because it reshaped the map of the Middle East such that it persists today; Israel is in control of the West Bank (Judea/Samaria), the Golan Heights, and the Gaza Strip. The 1967 War showed Arab states that Israel was not just some agrarian entity whose demise was imminent. The 1973 War showed that military force was not an option in restoring whatever balance the Arab states demanded (hence Sadat's peace overtures leading to the 1979 Peace Treaty with Israel). Perhaps because the 1973 Yom Kippur War did not re-shape the Middle East map and did not involve as decisive a decision as the 1967 conflict, it has tended to be overlooked versus the earlier war. But the 1973 War in certain aspects was more important than the Six Days War in that it allowed the first semblance of peace making in the region. That model -- land for peace -- continues to be the operative mode even today and the major thrust of U.S. foreign policy in the region. Like Oren, Rabinovich covers all of the facets of the war: the Israeli and American and Arab political scenes; the military tactics employed; the different battlegrounds (Sinai and Golan Heights); the personalities (Kissinger, Sadat, Meir, Dayan, Elazar, Sharon, Nixon); the international dimensions (the U.N., the Arab bloc, the Soviet Union). Rabinovich does an excellent job in presenting facts as facts and opinions as opinions. Regardless of one's opinion on the politics of the Middle East, Rabinovich's book -- just like Oren's -- can be utilized by anybody regardless of their political persuasions on the Israeli-Arab conflict. The book goes into enough depth on many of the secondary characters from both the Israeli (Kalahani, Eitan, Ben-Gal, Elazar, Adan, Gonen, Zeira) and Egyptian side (Suleiman, Shazly, Ismail). Don't worry if you don't recognize those names -- by the end of the book, you will know them intimately. The international shuttle diplomacy of Henry Kissinger is also covered very well, as is the effects of the Watergate crisis on the Nixon presidency as it impacts both the president and his staff in little-known crisis decision-making instances. The book does not focus as much on outside state actors -- the Soviets and other Arab states -- as much as Oren's book does, but it does not suffer for this lacking. Like Oren, Rabinovich has relied on extensive oral interviews with many of the key players -- there is no substitute for asking the major participants directly what they were thinking and doing, rather than relying on second-hand accounts via newspapers, books, so-called expert analyses,

In reading military history, one will often find that all human perspective is drowned in tactics and weapons systems or, conversely, that human elements have distracted the author and overwhelmed the war's place in history. This can be especially true in regard to the wars of Israel because there is such an intense emotion surrounding them. Happily, Abraham Rabinovich has avoided both of these problems with his masterful "The Yom Kippur War". Moreover, he succeeds admirably in placing the war with in the broader context of the region and the times.What makes "The Yom Kippur War" so successful is that Rabinovich captures and dissects all of the elements necessary to look at the war not just as a series of battles, but as a subject worthy of historical study. These might be described as the prologue, the war itself (battles, casualties, personalities, etc.), battlefield innovation (tactics and weapons), geopolitics and historical perspective. Alone, each area is well researched and written, combined they form one of the most effective and impressive military histories one is likely to encounter.By defining the Yom Kippur War as a product of numerous clashes dating back to Israel's founding, Rabinovich transcends a simple narrative of events and forces the reader to consider the root causes of the conflict, and how those causes dictated its course. One simple example is how Israel's stunning victory in The Six Day War lead to an institutional arrogance that meant they started the war poorly deployed and with limited ability to improvise in its early days. Moreover, Rabinovich does a nice job of capturing the Arab, and particularly the Egyptian, point of view. Unlike previous Arab military misadventures, The Yom Kippur War was based more upon the demands of realpolitik and less upon ideology than ever before. Egypt took a calculated roll of the dice, and in spite of taking a beating, over time accomplished all of their goals as a result.Tactically, The Yom Kippur War set a new standard for ferocity and violence in a relatively compact area. Never before had so much firepower been deployed so quickly and to such great effect. In particular, the massive deployment of RPG's and precision anti-tank weapons marked a genuine revolution in military affairs that rocked Israel to its very core. However, Rabinovich indicates a deft grasp of the rapid vacillations between offense and defense as he revisits the roles and interactions of infantry and tank time and again. Moreover, his purview isn't limited to tactics alone as he lays out a litany of failures in Israel's grand strategy which included such basic errors as a failure to dictate the shape of the battlefield by trading land for time, the failure to exploit greater maneuverability in flanking attacks, and the failure to concentrate armor at the critical point. All of these lapses would be glaring in most any army, but in Israel, where the tank reigned supreme, they were unforgivable. Lik

This is a generally well written and comprehensive history of the Yom Kippur War. It includes an extensive discussion of the days leading up to the war, as well as its immediate aftermath.While I strongly recommend the book, I believe there were areas for improvement. The detail on some of the battlefield encounters could have been shortened. In addition, while the book discusses the thinking and actions of Arab leaders, the focus is overwhelmingly on the Israeli side. More detail on the Arab side would have made for an even more interesting book.Among the more fascinating parts of the book:1. The sheer volume of intelligence ignored by the Israeli defense and intelligence establishments prior to the war.2. Ariel Sharon standing out not so much for his military daring but for being one of the few senior Israeli military leaders not initially paralyzed by the surprise and early success of the Arab invasion.3. The role of Henry Kissinger who almost micro-managed the conflict to a draw to set the table for future peace negotiations.4. The degree to which individual initiative at relatively low ranks in the Israeli Army helped Israel stem the tide until it was able to counterattack.This book argues, convincingly, that the Yom Kippur War was actually the first step in the Egyptian-Israeli peace process. It is an important work in understanding the Middle East today.

I'll be brief, it's excellent. He starts us off with an understanding of the Israeli self-assuredness that led to the successful Arab deception prior to the war. When the shooting starts, the author gives us a meticulous account on the happenings of both fronts which is based on countless personal interviews. The tank combat on the Golan Heights is the most thrilling I have ever read on armor battles. And I have read plenty of Kursk & Bulge. If this book were a dessert, I would call it a chocolate souffle.

This wonderful new book on the Yom Kippur war is the most updated, accurate thorough account yet written on the subject. Early works on the Yom Kippur war suffered due to secrecy on both sides of the conflict. Later works, like Blums 'eve of destruction' are narrow in their outlook and focus usually on only one or two elements of the conflict. This masterful work focuses on the entire conflict. From AMAN's intelligence failures to the planning for operation Badr to the 'last temple' statements of Mr. Dayan. Here is blow by blow coverage of the minor skirmishes and the large battles as well as day to day accounts of the fate of the men along the Bar-Lev line. The Yom Kippur War has long been relegated to the Sack Heap of history, a seminal conflict ignored in the broader context of the Arab Israeli wars. Usually it plays second fiddle to the `Six Day War' yet the Yom Kippur War was the most fascinating of the conflicts due to its multi-dimensional nature, from the surprise attack to the early setbacks, the airlift and the final world shattering gains in the Golan and across the Suez. Rabinovich is well known for his other work in the Jerusalem Post and he is an acknowledged expert on political and military affairs. But this book remains a tour de-force of epic proportions. Simply a very readable, extremely accessible and detailed account. Scholars of Israeli history as well as those looking for an epic military history book will enjoy this new volume. Anyone interested in the Arab-Israeli conflict and the modern geography of the middle east will find this book insightful.