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After having lost the Six-Day-War against Israel the Egyptian president Nasser launched the War of Attrition. This widely ignored war only ended with the death of Nasser.
Video
Overview
- Date: Jun 1968 – 07 Aug 1970
- Location: Suez Canal zone & Egyptian heartland
- Start: Egyptian artillery strikes on Israeli positions at the Suez Canal
- End: Ceasefire
Parties & Persons Involved
- Israel:
- Levi Eshkol (1895 – 1969), Israeli prime minister
- Golda Meir (1898 – 1978), Israeli prime minister
- Egypt:
- Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918 – 1970), Egyptian President
- Additionally: Soviet military advisors & pilots in Egypt
Background
- The Israel Defence Forces are positioned on the east bank of the Suez Canal since the Six-Day War (05 – 10 Jun 1967)
- The Six-Day War means a heavy defeat for Egypt & her president Nasser
- Egyptian forces are reequipped through extensive military aid from the Soviet Union
- The Arab states deny Israel the right to exist which results in a deep Arab-Israeli enmity
History
- Sep 1967: Arab states adopt the Khartoum Resolution which states “No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it...“
- Nasser: “What was taken by force must be regained by force.“
- Principle of the War of Attrition:
Egypt | Israel | |
Population (1970) | 35m | 3m |
Casualties of 50,000 | 0.14% | 1.67% |
Goal: Exhausting Israel’s “human reserve” |
- Jun – Oct 1968: Egyptian artillery fires on Israeli positions east of the Suez Canal
- 30 Oct 1968: Sayeret Matkal destroys a main electric transformation station & other strategic targets in Egypt
- Nov 1968 – Mar 1969: Egypt temporarily ceases hostilities
- Nov 1968 – Mar 1969: Egypt strengthens the (air) defence of strategic targets
- Nov 1968 – Mar 1969: The IDF fortifies the positions at the Canal by constructing the Bar Lev Line
- 08 Mar 1969: Egypt resumes extensive artillery strikes on Israeli positions
- Mar – Oct 1969: Extensive Israeli air strikes on Egypt enjoying nearly total air superiority
- Negotiations of the super powers to find a solution for the conflict
- 09 Dec 1969: Rodgers Plan (“land for peace“) is rejected by both, Egypt & Israel
- 22 Jan 1970: The Soviet Union promises Egypt the delivery of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) & the intervention of Soviet fighter squadrons
- 08 Apr 1970: 47 school children die during an Israeli airstrike
- The IDF restricts operations to the Canal zone
- Apr – Aug 1970: More combat operations with heavy casualties on the Egyptian & Soviet side
- 07 Aug 1970: Three months ceasefire
- Aug – Sep 1970: Egypt prepares a new offensive, esp. by moving air defence systems closer to the Canal
- 28 Sep 1970: Nasser dies & Egypt ceases hostilities
Consequences & Impact
- Casualties
- Israel: 1,424 dead & approx. 3,000 wounded
- Egypt: 10,000 dead & approx. 100 aircraft
- Nasser’s successor Sadat immediately starts preparing the Yom Kippur War (1973)
- Both sides claim to have won the War of Attrition
- Parts of Israel & the Israel Defense Forces underestimate Egypt & think that Israel will win any war against her Arab neighbours without any problems
- This leads to costly mistakes before & during the first days of the Yom Kippur War (1973)