According to historian Gammal Hammad, Egypt's principal ports, Alexandria and Port Safaga, remained open to shipping throughout the war. More than 200 Egyptian aircraft conducted simultaneous strikes against three airbases, Hawk missile batteries, three command centers, artillery positions, and several radar installations. He reviewed the first two weeks of the crisis and the nuclear alert, reiterated opposition to U.S. and Soviet troops in the area and more strongly opposed unilateral Soviet moves. The Americans would then have the upper hand in the region, which Moscow could not permit. Sadat had so long engaged in brinkmanship that his frequent war threats were being ignored by the world. ", This page was last edited on 3 May 2021, at 17:42. With an airlift in full swing, Washington was prepared to wait until Israeli success on the battlefield might persuade the Arabs and the Soviets to bring the fighting to an end. Israeli intelligence, detecting large troop movements towards the canal, dismissed them as mere training exercises. Overhead, 200 MiG and Sukhoi jets roared over the frontline to plaster Israeli airbases, artillery batteries and command posts. To conclude the operation and deter any Israeli attempt to reconquer the Golan, the Syrian 1st and 3rd Armored Division would advance onto the plateau. '"[100] This warning was ignored, and Aman concluded that the king had not told anything that was not already known. [292] At dawn he surprised the enemy column from the rear and dispersed the remnants of 43 MIB, having knocked-out all of its forty tanks. Dayan opened the meeting by arguing that war was not a certainty. In addition, the Syrians deployed two armored divisions from the second day onwards. As part of the operation, they attempted to land heli-borne troops in the vicinity of El Rom. Two oil tankers, of 48,000 ton and 2,000 ton capacity, sank after hitting mines in the Gulf. [255] Efforts had been made to improve the Israeli defensive position. Until then, Egypt had been "at the helm of the Arab world". As Israeli F-4 Phantoms and A-4 Skyhawks winged towards the frontline, SA-6 missiles began plucking them from the sky—leading to the loss of 34 Skyhawks in the first four days of the war. ... A desiccated economy added to the nation's despondency. Meir chose Elazar's proposal. [2][202] Some of his units attempted to move west, but were stopped at the crossroads in Nefalia. Son armée ne compte pas moins de 1 500 chars, 222 bombardiers et près de 300 000 hommes. [101] Zamir would later remark that "We simply didn't feel them capable [of war]. During the raid, the commandos sank a torpedo boat, a coast guard boat, a tank landing craft, and a missile boat. [282] Subsequently, the Syrian 51st Armored Brigade bypassed bunker complex 111 after dark. [356], On October 11, Israeli missile boats sank two Syrian missile boats in an engagement off Tartus. [389] Dayan raised the nuclear topic in a cabinet meeting, warning that the country was approaching a point of "last resort". Adan's brigades met resistance from dug-in Egyptian forces in the Sweetwater Canal area's greenbelt. Lacking modern antitank weapons, Israeli infantry was ineffective at stopping Syrian armor. He pointed to one engagement, which involved elements of the 1st Infantry Brigade, attached to the 19th Division, which captured Ayoun Mousa, south of Suez.[166]. A ceasefire was signed in August 1970. The blockade was enforced by two Egyptian destroyers and two submarines, supported by ancillary craft. Directly west of this line a series of tank ramps were constructed: earthen platforms on which a Centurion tank could position itself with only its upper turret and gun visible, offering a substantial advantage when duelling the fully exposed enemy tanks. Israel subsequently withdrew its troops and settlers from the Sinai, in exchange for normal relations with Egypt and a lasting peace, with last Israeli troops exiting on April 26, 1982. [citation needed] Sadat had signaled in an interview with The New York Times in December 1970 that, in return for a total withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula, he was ready "to recognize the rights of Israel as an independent state as defined by the Security Council of the United Nations." Brezhnev decided that the Americans were too nervous, and that the best course of action would be to wait to reply. [229] According to Trevor N. Dupuy, the Israelis, Soviets and Americans overestimated the vulnerability of the Third Army at the time. [185], On the night of October 15, 20 Israeli tanks and seven APCs under the command of Colonel Haim Erez crossed the canal and penetrated 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) into Egypt, taking the Egyptians by surprise. [264] Further successful resistance by the southern battalion was contingent on reinforcements. [466] The commander of the Egyptian Second Army at the start of the war, General Mamoun, suffered a heart attack,[178] or, alternatively, a breakdown, after the Egyptian defeat during the October 14 Sinai tank battle, and was replaced by General Khalil. The Israelis then counter-attacked at the seam between the two Egyptian armies, crossed the Suez Canal into Egypt, and began slowly advancing southward and westward towards the city of Suez in over a week of heavy fighting that resulted in heavy casualties on both sides.[65][66]. [230] According to David Elazar, Chief of Israeli headquarters staff, on December 3, 1973: "As for the third army, in spite of our encircling them they resisted and advanced to occupy in fact a wider area of land at the east. [237] This claim was disputed by Edgar O'Ballance, who claimed that no oil went to Israel during the blockade, and the Eilat-Ashdod pipeline was empty by the end of the war. The attacking forces, consisting of 800[170]–1,000 tanks[171] would not have SAM cover, so the Egyptian Air Force (EAF) was tasked with their defense against Israeli aerial attacks. In addition, the Museum of the October 6 War was built in 1989 in the Heliopolis district of Cairo. [269], At 16:00, Yitzhak Hofi, head Northern Command, shortly visited Nafah and split command of the Golan front: the north would be the responsibility of 7th AB, to which 53rd TB would be transferred. All parties to the war—Israel, Syria, Jordan and Egypt—were invited to a joint effort by the Soviet Union and the United States to finally usher peace between the Arabs and Israelis. [425] The next morning, the Egyptians agreed to the American suggestion, and dropped their request for assistance from the Soviets, bringing the crisis to an end. Egypt's economy was in shambles, but Sadat knew that the deep reforms that he felt were needed would be deeply unpopular among parts of the population. Despite this belief, Israel sent reinforcements to the Golan Heights. During the months before the war, Sadat engaged in a diplomatic offensive to try to win support for military action. Her cabinet followed suit, including Dayan, who had previously offered to resign twice and was turned down both times by Meir.