Download or read book The Decisiveness Of Israeli Small Unit Leadership On The Golan Heights In The 1973 Yom Kippur War written by Major Oakland McCulloch and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study is an analysis of the decisiveness of Israeli small-unit leadership on the Golan Heights during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. What allowed the Israeli brigades on the Golan Heights to defeat an Arab coalition that launched a surprise attack with a force that vastly outnumbered the Israelis in men, tanks and artillery? The one advantage the Israelis had was the quality of leadership at the small-unit level. This study begins with a brief review of the strategic and operational situation in the Middle East in 1973. This includes background information on the Israeli and Arab forces facing each other on the Golan Heights and their plans for the defense and attack respectfully prior to the start of hostilities. The majority of the thesis discussion is concerned with the actual battle on the Golan Heights. It highlights the contributions that small-unit leadership made during the battle that allowed the vastly outnumbered IDF to destroy a massive Soviet-style Arab army. This portion of the study also looks at the experiences of those Israeli leaders involved in the fighting. The study then looks at leadership from the Israeli perspective. I define what leadership is and why it is important at the small-unit level. I take a close look at how the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) picks and trains its leaders and what role the Israeli Military Culture plays in that process. The conclusion of the thesis is that the IDF was able to fight and win even though surprised and vastly outnumbered due to the quality of leadership at the small-unit level. This lesson may prove to be important still today as the armies of the Western societies continue to get smaller even though they still face the threat of fighting the massive Soviet-style armies of the “Axis of Evil” for decades to come.
Download or read book The Decisiveness of Israeli Small Unit Leadership on the Golan Heights in the 1973 Yom Kippur War written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study is an analysis of the decisiveness of Israeli small-unit leadership on the Golan Heights during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. What allowed the Israeli brigades on the Golan Heights to defeat an Arab coalition that launched a surprise attack with a force that vastly outnumbered the Israelis in men, tanks and artillery? The one advantage the Israelis had was the quality of leadership at the small-unit level. This study begins with a brief review of the strategic and operational situation in the Middle East in 1973. This includes background information on the Israeli and Arab forces facing each other on the Golan Heights and their plans for the defense and attack respectfully prior to the start of hostilities. The majority of the thesis discussion is concerned with the actual battle on the Golan Heights. It highlights the contributions that small-unit leadership made during the battle that allowed the vastly outnumbered IDF to destroy a massive Soviet-style Arab army. This portion of the study also looks at the experiences of those Israeli leaders involved in the fighting. The study then looks at leadership from the Israeli perspective. I define what leadership is and why it is important at the small-unit level. I take a close look at how the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) picks and trains its leaders and what role the Israeli Military Culture plays in that process. The conclusion of the thesis is that the IDF was able to fight and win even though surprised and vastly outnumbered due to the quality of leadership at the small-unit level. This lesson may prove to be important still today as the armies of the Western societies continue to get smaller even though they still face the threat of fighting the massive Soviet-style armies of the 'Axis of Evil' for decades to come.
Download or read book The Heights of Courage written by Avigdor Kahalani and published by Praeger. This book was released on 1984-12-11 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In October 1973, the State of Israel was invaded by Egyptian and Syrian forces. Despite early losses, Israel managed to outfight its opponents. The brief and bloody Yom Kippur War stands as a unique chapter in modern military history. Fought primarily by tank units, the war became a story not only of battle strategy and tactics, but also one of human discipline, endurance and sacrifice. While many historians have chronicled the events of the Yom Kippur War, few have been seasoned by actual combat. Avigdor Kahalani, commander of a tank battalion on the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War, describes this experience in The Heights of Courage. Beginning with a description of the initial Syrian offensive, he recounts the personal endeavors of his men, their fears and their ambitions, as well as their emotional and physical hardships. His stark account traces the efforts of the Israel Armored Corps as they struggle to overcome extreme difficulties and setbacks. The author describes their ultimate penetration into enemy territory and their approach to within forty kilometers of Damascus.
Download or read book At the Decisive Point in the Sinai written by Jacob Even and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2017-09-15 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A commander and an officer with the IDF recount their experiences in the Yom Kippur War, offering insight into Israel’s military leadership. At the Decisive Point in the Sinai is a firsthand account of Operation Stouthearted Men—arguably the 1973 Yom Kippur War’s most intense engagement. General Jacob Even and Colonel Simcha B. Moaz were key leaders in Major General Ariel Sharon’s division. Together, Even and Maoz recount the initial stages of the Suez crossing, examine the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) response to Egypt’s surprise attack, and explain Sharon’s role in the transition from defense to offense. They detail Sharon’s struggle to convince his superiors of his plan and argue that an effective division commander is not only revealed by his leadership of subordinates but also by his ability to influence his senior officers. Even and Maoz challenge students of military leadership by offering a case study on effective leadership. “At the Decisive Point is the single best volume I have ever read on the Yom Kippur War. It bridges the gap between the two standard forms of writing on the 1973 conflict?the memoir and the historical monograph?and does so in a very effective manner.” —Robert M. Citino, author of The Wehrmacht Retreats: Fighting a Lost War, 1943 “The authors’ work, in sum, presents an interesting and informative account of the Yom Kippur War on the Sinai front.” —Israel Affairs
Download or read book Victory Defeat or Draw written by David Rodman and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2020-12-09 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Three outcomes are possible on the battlefield: victory, defeat, or draw. An adversary may defeat or be defeated by its adversary, or neither of the two may emerge victorious or vanquished. Observers of military history have long tried to identify the variables that determine victory, defeat, or draw. While most would certainly acknowledge that decisions on the battlefield are dictated by a combination of variables rather than by a lone circumstance, many observers nevertheless tend to stress a single variable -- for example, the number of fighting men and fighting machines deployed by the adversaries, or the operational doctrines employed by the opposing forces -- as far more significant to the explanations of these decisions than other variables. This book, in contrast, takes a multicausal approach to the question of victory, defeat, or draw, proposing that a combination of six organizational, materiel, and environmental variables are pivotal to the explanation of decision on the battlefield. Using the extensive history of the Israel Defense Forces, the book examines a sample of eight battles across the ArabIsraeli conflict from 1948 to 1982 in order to determine the collective impact of the six variables on the outcomes of these battles, concluding that this basket of variables captures much of the explanation behind victory, defeat, or draw on the battlefield, at least insofar as concerns the record of the IDF. While the research in this book is aimed primarily at military historians and military practitioners, it is fully accessible to any layperson interested in Israeli military history in particular or international military history in general.
Download or read book Transforming Command written by Eitan Shamir and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2011-01-26 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book tells the story of the theory and history of the mission command approach (decentralized command) and the attempts by different armies to adopt and reform according to this approach.
Download or read book Not by Omission written by Amnon Kapeliouk and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2022-07-26 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, first published in Hebrew in 1975 and now available in English for the first time with an introduction by Noam Chomsky, Amnon Kapeliouk traces the policies and attitudes that led to the 1973 Arab-Israel war. He describes the multiple diplomatic overtures from Egyptian presidents Nasser and Sadat after 1967 that Israel ignored or contemptuously rejected, as well as the complacent attitude that had become fully entrenched in the Israeli military establishment. On the political level, the triumvirate of Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan and Israel Galili feature prominently as a study in arrogance and incompetence. Kapeliouk also notes the protest movement that arose among active-duty soldiers as well as veterans in the wake of the war demanding political accountability for the failures of the war. Finally, the book examines Israel's policy of colonizing the territories occupied in 1967, starting with the Golan Heights and later spreading to the West Bank ("Judaea and Samaria") and the Sinai - a policy that did much to convince the leaders of Arab states that war was their only option. Introduced by Noam Chomsky and Irene Gendzier.
Download or read book Soldier in the Sinai written by Emanuel Sakal and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2014-10-21 with total page 745 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In surprise attacks on Israel in October 1973, Egyptian and Syrian forces crossed ceasefire lines to enter the Israeli-held Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, igniting what became known as the Yom Kippur War. In the north, Israel succeeded in blocking the Syrian advance, but in the south, it failed to achieve an operational decision in the defense campaign. In Soldier in the Sinai, mobile and armored warfare expert Major General Emanuel Sakal analyzes the operational and strategic decisions made by Israel's political and military leadership and assesses the causes of the defense's first-phase failure. Prior to the conflict, the government approved the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) strategy, dubbed "the regulars will hold." This plan assumed that the IDF regulars on the front lines, supported by the Israeli Air Force, would effectively counter the Arab attack even if deterrence failed. Employing operations research, simulation, and computerized war games, Sakal examines the virtual results of an alternative approach by the Israeli military and explains how ineffective air support, an inadequate tank strategy, and a delay in mobilizing its reserves crippled the country's air force. An intriguing and detailed evaluation of Israel's flawed defense, Soldier in the Sinai offers a firsthand account of military strategy from a general who commanded a regular tank battalion that fought in the most desperate battles of the conflict. Based on extensive research, including interviews with the principal officers involved, this book provides a meticulous critique of the faulty assumptions and lack of planning that contributed to the disastrous early battles of the Yom Kippur War.
Download or read book Duel for the Golan written by Jerry Asher and published by William Morrow. This book was released on 1987 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first published eyewitness accounts of the greatest tank battle since World War II, and a gripping account of how Israeli defenders, outnumbered ten to one, successfully saved their homeland. 48 black-and-white photographs.
Download or read book The Yom Kippur War 1973 1 written by Simon Dunstan and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-02-20 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At 1345hrs on 6 October 1973, Israeli spotters in the observation post atop Mount Hermon saw Syrian gunners below them removing the camouflage nets from their guns. Ten minutes later shells began to rain down on Israeli positions all along the Golan Heights – The Yom Kippur War had begun. The shock Syrian attack caught the Israelis by surprise and by the afternoon of 7 October a Syrian brigade was less than 10km from the Sea of Galilee. Simon Dunstan describes in detail how amid desperate and bitter fighting the Israeli forces managed to turn the tide on the Golan Heights.
Download or read book Israel s Intelligence Assessment Before the Yom Kippur War written by Aryeh Shalev and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2009-10-01 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Israel's flawed intelligence assessment in October 1973 has been studied intensively and been the subject of much public and professional debate. This title examines the preconceptions and common beliefs that prevailed among Israeli intelligence officials and ultimately contributed to their flawed assessment.
Download or read book Inside Israel s Northern Command written by Dani Asher and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2016-03-18 with total page 704 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On October 6, 1973, Israel's Northern Command was surprised by the thunder of cannon fire and the sight of dense, black smoke. A Syrian force of 1,400 tanks supported by artillery and air power had attacked from the north while the Egyptian military invaded the Sinai Peninsula in the south. Syria sought to avenge its devastating loss of the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six-Day War -- a conflict that not only resulted in territorial gain for Israel but also cemented the nation's reputation as the region's preeminent military power. Although Israel ultimately prevailed, the Yom Kippur War (or Ramadan War, as it is known in Arab countries) shattered the illusion of Israel's invincibility. In Syrians at the Border , Israel's foremost scholar of the war, Dani Asher, and an eminent group of experts provide the definitive history of this key conflict. The contributors -- Major General Yitzhak Hofi, the Northern commander in chief; Major General Uri Simchoni, head of Command Operations; Brigadier General Avraham Bar David, head of Artillery; and Colonel Hagai Mann, the command's intelligence officer -- all held key positions during the fighting. Together, they offer fresh insight into the prewar debate that raged between the Israeli Northern Command and intelligence officers who believed that Syria would not instigate conflict. This seminal study also examines the pivotal battles that changed the course of the war, as well as the disastrous effects of a flawed postwar evaluation that adversely affected the careers of several high-ranking intelligence officials and the course of defense strategic planning thereafter. The contributors' incisive analyses contribute significantly to our understanding of this troubled region.
Download or read book The Yom Kippur War written by Peter Allen and published by Scribner Book Company. This book was released on 1982 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Unknown Syrian Helicopter Landings During the Yom Kippur War written by Dr. Josef Berger and published by Josef Berger. This book was released on with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a story of the discovery of unknown Syrian commando landings behind the lines of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the Golan Heights, during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. On the fourth day of the war, as part of the last Syrian attempt to conquer the Golan, Syrian helicopter groups were seen passing over IDF soldiers on their way in and out of the Golan. Around ten helicopters participated in the operation: two were downed on their exit route, one helicopter was downed by a tank gun shell, and one by a Mirage aircraft. For four decades, the IDF was aware of only one landing site. The author interviewed many IDF veterans who were stationed all over the Golan. He mapped the many Syrian airplane routes observed and discovered that those helicopters also flew to three previously unknown landing sites. Using photos and tracing the routes on maps, the research links the landing sites of the Syrian forces and the ambushes that the Syrians executed behind the IDF lines. To confirm the research findings, a search of Arabic open sources was done. The search results were added as updates to this article. The article demonstrates how military systems tend to confuse themselves when reports flow from many units in the battle field describing enemy operations happening simultaneously. The article suggests ways to overcome this confusion.
Download or read book A Warrior s Way written by Avigdor Kahalani and published by SP Books. This book was released on 1993-09 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Israel's most decorated living soldier relives his greatest battles in this thrilling account. The renowned tank commander and current Parliament member received not only the Distinguished Service Medal, but also the Israeli Defense Forces' most rarely-issued award: the Medal of Valor.
Download or read book Military Lessons of the Yom Kippur War written by Martin Van Creveld and published by Sage Publications (CA). This book was released on 1975 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-03-22 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading Despite losing the 1948 war, Arab nations throughout the Middle East had still refused to recognize Israel's right to exist. After the Suez Crisis, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser envisioned creating a unified Arab world, commonly referred to as pan-Arabism. Nasser was the consummate pan-Arab leader in the 1960s, positioning himself as the leader of the Arab world through increasing incitement against Israel with rhetoric. Israel found itself in possession of more land after 1948 than envisioned by the U.N. Partition Plan, but the Green Line still left it less than 10 miles wide in some positions. In the summer of 1967, the armies of Jordan and Syria mobilized near Israel's borders, while Egypt's army mobilized in the Sinai Peninsula just west of the Gaza Strip. Combined, the Arab armies numbered over 200,000 soldiers. In early June 1967, the Israelis captured Jordanian intelligence that indicated an invasion was imminent, and at 08h10 on June 5, 1967, the Israel Broadcasting Authority aired an Israeli Defense Force communique. "Since the early hours of this morning," it read, "heavy fighting has been taking place on the southern front between Egyptian armored and aerial forces, which moved against Israel, and our forces, which went into action to check them." Over the next six days, the Israelis overwhelmed the Egyptians in the west, destroying thousands of tanks and capturing the Gaza Strip and the entire Sinai Peninsula. At the same time, Israel drove the Jordanians out of Jerusalem and the West Bank, and it captured the Golan Heights from Syria near the border of Lebanon. In the span of a week, Israel had tripled the size of the lands it controlled. Israel had gone from less than 10 miles wide in some spots to over 200 miles wide from the Sinai Peninsula to the West Bank. Israel also unified Jerusalem. The results of the Six Day War created several issues that have still not been resolved in the Middle East. Israel now found itself in possession of territories that were the home of over a million Arabs. Of these territories, Israel officially annexed only East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, leaving the inhabitants of the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, and Gaza Strip in limbo regarding citizenship status. On October 6, 1973, Syria and Egypt caught Israel off guard during the Jewish holy holiday of Yom Kippur, surprise attacking the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights. Although they initially made gains, the Israelis turned the tide within a week, going on the counteroffensive and winning the war within 3 weeks. The Yom Kippur War was the last concerted invasion of Israel by conventional Arab armies, but it underscored how entangled the West and the Soviet Union had gotten in the region. The British and French had been allied with Israel in the 1950s, including during the Suez Canal War, and the United States assisted Israel by providing weapons as early as the 1960s. As a way of counteracting Western influence, the Soviets developed ties with the Arab nations. After the Yom Kippur War, President Jimmy Carter's administration sought to establish a peace process that would settle the conflict in the Middle East, while also reducing Soviet influence in the region. On September 17, 1978, after secret negotiations at the presidential retreat Camp David, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed a peace treaty between the two nations, in which Israel ceded the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in exchange for a normalization of relations, making Egypt the first Arab adversary to officially recognize Israel. For the Camp David Accords, Begin and Sadat won the Nobel Peace Prize, but the peace treaty may have cost Sadat his life, as he was assassinated in 1981 by fundamentalist military officers during a victory parade.
