On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack against Israel on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
Backed by arms from the Soviet Union, Egypt and Syria made significant territorial gains in Sinai and the Golan Heights. By the war’s end three weeks later, aided by military supplies from the United States, Israeli counterattacks proved successful. A UN applied ceasefire took effect and a brief Middle East Peace Conference was held in Geneva in December. Despite mistrust between the sides, Egyptian President Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Meir used the war to usher in a period of American-led diplomacy. Israelis critically investigated their failures in preparing for the war; their inquiries resulted in both the resignation of high ranking officials and in revision of Israel’s military readiness procedures. No treaties were signed at the end of the war, only military disengagement agreements. The diplomatic aftermath of the war evolved slowly into more detailed, secret, and direct Egyptian-Israeli diplomacy which resulted in the 1979 Israel-Egyptian Peace Treaty.
Documents
February 1973 – Transcript of Secret Talks
Israel State Archives, The Yom Kippur War, October 1973
October 9, 1973 – Conversation – Kissinger, Scowcroft, Dinitz, Gur, and Rodman, White House – resupply issue
October 14, 1973 – Conversation – Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, White House, on progress of the war
October 22, 1973 – UN Security Council Resolution 338
November 1, 1973 – Conversation – Meir, Dinitz, Gazit, Shalev, Yariv, Leor, Kissinger, and Rodman, White House, on Sadat and diplomacy from the war
November 3, 1973 – Conversation – Kissinger, Meir, Dinitz, Gazit, Yariv, Shalev, Leor, Sisco, and Rodman
April 1974 – Agranat – Yom Kippur War