Israeli Veteran Calls 1973 War a Necessary ‘Slap in the Face'

A sign warning against landmines from the 1973 Arab-Israeli War is placed at a field at a position near the Syrian border in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on September 5, 2023. (AFP)
A sign warning against landmines from the 1973 Arab-Israeli War is placed at a field at a position near the Syrian border in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on September 5, 2023. (AFP)
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Israeli Veteran Calls 1973 War a Necessary ‘Slap in the Face'

A sign warning against landmines from the 1973 Arab-Israeli War is placed at a field at a position near the Syrian border in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on September 5, 2023. (AFP)
A sign warning against landmines from the 1973 Arab-Israeli War is placed at a field at a position near the Syrian border in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on September 5, 2023. (AFP)

A decorated Israeli veteran of tank battles on the Syrian front in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Avigdor Kahalani remembers the conflict, despite its heavy toll, as a "slap in the face" Israel badly needed.

The twin attack by Egypt and Syria on October 6 caught Israel by surprise on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar -- Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement -- when the nation comes to a virtual standstill.

When the fighting erupted, Kahalani was a 29-year-old lieutenant-colonel commanding the 77th tank battalion in the Golan Heights that overlook Syria.

He had only just returned to active duty after spending a year in hospital for follow-up treatment of severe burns he had suffered in the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict.

That war had seen Israel conquer the Golan Heights, Sinai, West Bank and east Jerusalem, dramatically redrawing the regional map -- but also creating what was later deemed a dangerous sense of complacency.

As soon as the new war broke out on two fronts, Kahalani knew that Israeli forces were badly outnumbered, the 79-year-old recalled in an interview with AFP at his home in Tel Aviv.

Syria had eight to 10 times more tanks than Israel and "their tanks were better than ours", he said.

"All of a sudden we understood that it's a total war, we're losing territory," he recalled, adding that within 24 hours the Syrian forces "had conquered almost all of the Golan Heights".

'Critical moment'

Within three days, the Israeli forces seemed on the verge of defeat, with Syrian forces directly threatening Israel's core territory.

But, in a dramatic turn of events on the battlefield, Kahalani's unit and battalions of the 7th Armored Brigade were able to halt the Syrian momentum.

"I had to lead the attack to reconquer the hills from where we could stop them," the former tank commander said.

After days of fierce fighting, the Syrians retreated.

"That was a critical moment, when you've strained every muscle in your body, after four days of combat with nearly no food, without sleep, with just a few ammunition rounds left in your tank.

"You utilize every muscle, every thought, to be better than them, to win," said Kahalani, who is celebrated as a living legend in Israel and regularly speaks with young conscripts.

In 1975, Kahalani received the Medal of Valor, Israel's highest military distinction. The citation honored his "wondrous leadership and personal heroism in a difficult and complicated battle, whose outcome changed the course of the Golan Heights campaign".

Wake-up call

After the initial floundering, Israel, mobilizing all reserve units and supported by a US airlift, was able to redress the battlefield situation.

Israeli forces counter-attacked Egypt and crossed the Suez Canal, while in the north its soldiers retook the Golan. Fighting ended with a UN-validated ceasefire on October 25.

Both sides suffered heavy losses in the three weeks of fighting. More than 2,600 Israeli soldiers were killed and more than 9,500 Arab troops were dead and missing.

Many historians argue that Israel's 1967 victory had instilled a sense of invulnerability among its political and military leadership.

So, despite the heavy losses, Kahalani, who lost a brother in the conflict, argues the 1973 war was a necessary wake-up call.

Its effect was like "a very strong slap in the face", he said, arguing that it "brought our sanity back to a certain extent".

"Had the reservists been mobilized two days earlier, it's likely that the war could have been avoided," he said.

But members of then-prime minister Golda Meir's government were "hesitant," Kahalani noted, "even when they had all the indications that there was about to be a war".

The shock of Israel's unpreparedness changed everything, he said of the deep soul-searching and high-profile resignations that followed.

'Moment of truth'

A year after the war, a commission was set up to investigate Israel's level of military preparedness and its reaction to the outbreak of the war.

The army's top commander David Elazar and the head of military intelligence Eli Zeira resigned. Meir, while not directly implicated by the commission, stepped down as prime minister in 1974.

Kahalani stayed in the army, reaching the rank of brigadier general, before resigning and joining the Labour Party in 1992.

He later left to form a centrist party and served as public security minister in Benjamin Netanyahu's first government from 1996-1999.

To Kahalani, the 1973 war was the trigger that pushed Israel to develop more sophisticated weapons, such as the Iron Dome missile defense system, and to achieve the military technological edge it enjoys today.

But above all, the conflict served as a timely warning of Israel's "existential problem" which Kahalani argues is now embodied by arch-enemy Iran.

Israel charges that Iran, whose leaders have called repeatedly for its destruction, is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, a goal Tehran denies.

"The moment of truth will come, I have no illusions," Kahalani said of a potential showdown with Iran.

When that day comes, he said, he hopes that "Israel will have courageous leadership".



Harris Tries to Thread the Needle on Gaza After Meeting with Netanyahu 

US Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds, in Washington, DC, US, July 25, 2024. (Reuters)
US Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds, in Washington, DC, US, July 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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Harris Tries to Thread the Needle on Gaza After Meeting with Netanyahu 

US Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds, in Washington, DC, US, July 25, 2024. (Reuters)
US Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds, in Washington, DC, US, July 25, 2024. (Reuters)

Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic nominee for president, is attempting to bridge divides within the party over the war in Gaza, emphasizing Israel's right to defend itself while also focusing on alleviating Palestinian suffering.

She delivered remarks after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that reflected a delicate balancing act on one of the country's most divisive political issues. Some Democrats have been critical of President Joe Biden's steadfast support for Israel despite the increasing death toll among Palestinians, and Harris is trying to unite her party for the election battle with Republican candidate Donald Trump.

"We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies," she said. "We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent."

Harris did not deviate from the administration's approach to the conflict, including grueling negotiations aimed at ending the fighting, releasing hostages held by Hamas and eventually rebuilding Gaza. She also said nothing about military assistance for Israel, which some Democrats want to cut.

Instead, she tried to refocus the conversation around mitigating the calamity in Gaza, and she used language intended to nudge Americans toward an elusive middle ground.

"The war in Gaza is not a binary issue," she said. "But too often, the conversation is binary when the reality is anything but."

In addition, Harris made a more explicit appeal to voters who have been frustrated by the ceaseless bloodshed, which began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

"To everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire, and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you, and I hear you," she said.

Harris' meeting with Netanyahu was private, and she described it as "frank and constructive." She also emphasized her longtime support for Israel, which includes raising money to plant trees in the country when she was a young girl.

Jewish Americans traditionally lean Democratic, but Republicans have tried to make inroads. Trump claimed this week that Harris "is totally against the Jewish people" because she didn't attend Netanyahu's address to a joint meeting of Congress. The vice president was traveling in Indiana during the speech.

Harris is married to a Jewish man, Doug Emhoff, who has played an outspoken role in the administration's efforts to combat antisemitism.

Netanyahu did not speak publicly after his meeting with Harris. His trip was scheduled before Biden dropped his reelection bid, but the meeting with Harris was watched closely for clues to her views on Israel.

"She is in a tricky situation and walking a tightrope where she’s still the vice president and the president really is the one who leads on the foreign policy agenda," said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, a Democrat whose city is home to one of the largest Arab American communities in the nation. "But as the candidate, the presumptive nominee, she has to now create the space to differentiate in order for her to chart a new course."

Protesters gathered outside Union Station on the day of Netanyahu's speech, ripping down American flags and spray painting "Hamas is coming."

Harris sharply criticized those actions, saying there were "despicable acts by unpatriotic protesters and dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric. "

"I support the right to peacefully protest, but let’s be clear: Antisemitism, hate and violence of any kind have no place in our nation," she said in a statement.

As vice president, Harris has tried to show little daylight between herself and Biden. But David Rothkopf, a foreign policy writer who has met with her, said there's been "a noticeable difference in tone, particularly in regards to concern for the plight of innocent Palestinians."

The difference was on display in Selma, Alabama, in March, when Harris commemorated the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march for voting rights in 1965.

During her speech, Harris said that "given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire."

The audience broke out in applause. A few sentences later, Harris emphasized that it was up to Hamas to accept the deal that had been offered. But her demand for a ceasefire still resonated in ways that Biden's comments had not.

An AP-NORC poll conducted in June found that about 6 in 10 Democrats disapproved of the way Biden is handling the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Roughly the same number said Israel's military response in Gaza had gone too far.

Israeli analysts said they doubted that Harris would present a dramatic shift in policies toward their country.

Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser and senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank, said Harris was from a generation of American politicians who felt they could both support Israel and publicly criticize its policies.

"The question is as president, what would she do?" Freilich said. "I think she would put considerably more pressure on Israel on the Palestinian issue overall."