Aftermath Of Yom Kippur War: International Media Perception

Election Campaign and Internal Policies of Israel after the War

Question:

Describe the after math of Yom Kippur War as reflected by the International media.

The essay describes the after math of Yom Kippur War as reflected by the International media. The Yom Kippur War also known as Arab Israeli war of 1973 was the war fought by a coalition of Arab states led by Syria and Egypt in 1973 between October 6 and 25. The fighting however took place in the territories of Sinai and Golan Heights occupied by Israel. The commencement of the war was a result of the joint surprise attack by Arab coalition on the Israeli positions in the occupied territories of Israel on Yom Kippur considered the holiest day on Judaism that also happens to be the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Syrian and Egyptian crossed ceasefire lines for entering into the Sinai Peninsula and Golan heights. Massive resupply efforts undertaken by Soviet Union and the United States to their respective allies that led to confrontation between two nuclear superpowers. The essay puts forward the idea in chapter form. The first chapter focuses on election campaign with primary focus on the internal policy adopted by Israel after the war and the government of Menachem Begin. The second chapter however focuses on the resignation of Mrs. Golda Meir, the Prime Minister of Israel during the war. The subsections of the chapter focus on the professional career of Golda Meir and her resignation after the Yom Kippur War.

Internal Policy of Israel after War

According to (Timesofisrael.com, 2017), two primary developments took place on political and strategic level that became crucial to security of Israel after the war. The first one included the maintenance of peace with Egypt. The peace treaty with Egypt was one of the greatest strategic moves of Israel considered the most powerful Arab country with a military base that has been an opponent and threat for the state for the last 40 years (Binhas, 2016). This also enabled Israel to lessen its defense burden and concentrate its military forces on other challenges and missions. The country though not assured but took the reasonable risk of considering its southern border to be safe and the Egyptian accession of the pro-American camp would ensure Israel with enough strategic warning that led to a significant change in the direction. The turbulence in Egypt made it lose control over Sinai, rise in arms smuggling to Gaza and also led to the rise of terrorist organizations which Israel in cooperation with Egypt had to deal with through military operations and force structure(Sharp, 2014). The peace treaty with Egypt however survived through the changes of two regimes and remained robust through other engagement of Israel that included the Lebanon War.

The second major development included a quantum leap in strategic relationship with the United States. On October 12, 1973, an emergency resupply operation ordered by President Richard Nixon for the beleaguered Israel Defence Forces (IDF). This resulted in the beginning of Operation Nickel Grass that lasted for thirty-two days and had 567 cargo missions delivering a supply of 22,000 tons that was much more than that arriving by the sea. In addition to this, there was reflagging of American A-4 and F-4 aircraft that flew to Israel from the United States and Europe.

Resignation of Golda Meir as Prime Minister of Israel

The operation Nickel Grass however proved to be a qualitative leap of US put forward in defence of Israel[1].This was also a prelude to strategic cooperation with Israel. The quantitative military edge that United States committed to maintain with Israel became the basic component of not only the national security but also the deterrent capability of Israel

The Government of Menachem Begin

According to (BBC News, 2017), Menachem Begin was the sixth prime minister of Israel and was the founder of Likud national liberal movement. Prior to the creation of Israel, he represented him as the leader of the Zionist group known as Irgun that broke away as a part of the paramilitary organization of the Jews [2]This Zionist group fought with the Arabs during the civil war between 1947 and 1948 in Palestine. He was the first elected Knesset and head of Herut party founded by him. Although he remained in the opposition for eight consecutive elections, but later became more acceptable to the political centre.

As per (Zieve, 2017), Begin and members of Irgun High Command rose from underground and led to the formation of right wing Herut party. Begin went on a campaigning trip to the United States in November 1948 where his group described as preaching racial superiority that led to the inauguration of terror in the Jewish community of Palestine (Lustick, 2013).

In the first election of 1949, the Herut party won 14 seats by gaining 11.5 percent vote. This proved the legitimacy of Begin as the leader of Revisionist stream of Zionism (Weitz, 2014). However, during the year 1950, United Kingdom banned the entry of Begin as the government considered him the leader of the notorious terrorist organization.

Between the year 1948 and 1977, the alliance formed by the Herut party of Begin formed the main opposition to the dominant Mapai and later formed an alignment with Knesset[3]The radical nationalistic agenda adopted by the party remains committed to the irredentist idea of the Greater Israel that includes Jordan. According to (Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 2017) on 17 May 1977, Begin won the elections of Knesset that went on to become the biggest party.

The electoral victory of Menachem Begin in the year 1977 ended the political dominance of the labor party. The most significant achievement of Begin as Prime Minister defined by the signing of peace treaty with Egypt in the year 1979 for which received the Nobel Prize for Peace. As the Prime Minister, Begin also had a contribution towards the socioeconomic policies. He presided over various reforms in domestic field. Under his governance, there was elimination of the tuition fees for secondary education and compulsory education extended to the tenth grade. There was also introduction of newer social program such as the long-term care insurance and a support system for national income[4]. He also abolished the ban on the color television and lowered the minimum age of color television. Under the governance of Begin, there was initiation of another government program that aimed at rehabilitating the impoverished neighborhoods and towns. There was extensive work done for eliminating the slum conditions that will lead to the improvement in general quality of life.

Peace Treaty with Egypt and its Strategic Significance

The government of Menachem Begin promoted construction of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. However, Begin authorized the invasion of Lebanon war in the year 1982. The Israeli defense forces (IDF) remained stuck up in Lebanon and the economy suffered greatly from inflation that mounted public pressure on Begin. Thus, Begin became increasingly depressed and withdrew from the public life followed by his resignation in the year 1983.

The Resignation of Golda Meir after Yom Kippur War

According to (Weitz, 2011), if Mrs. Golda Meir was not the prime minister between 1969 and 1974, Israel could spare itself from the Yom Kippur War (Dunstan, 2012). Others are of the view that it is only for her governance that Israel could win the war.

However, Israel lacked a sensitive and wise leader who could undertake a proactive role during the period that preceded the terrible war[5]. This was quite possible that the selection of another war leader could have shown similar resilience that allowed the defense forces of Israel in turning setbacks into history.

Under, Mrs. Golda Meir’s governance, the prewar tragedy comprised of her failure in ability in appreciating the potential significance of change taking place in Egypt from Nasser to Sadat (Dunstan, 2013). Her dogmatism and rigidity left her with the simplistic doctrine that dictated the policy of Israel since the year 1967 that also implied that Israel was unable to withdraw from anywhere without any peace.

Moreover, Mrs. Golda Meir was resistant to the firm signals that emanated from Sadat Cairo who mentioned that withdrawal of Israel in a modest manner would not only be beneficial to both the sides but also strengthen mutual interest without resuming hostilities. This would also help in beginning to build a zone that led to peaceful disengagement between them.

Through the reports of (Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 2017) one can see how defense minister Moshe Dayan advocated the same phased approach put forward by Sadat. He overviewed a reopened canal along with newly bustling township alongside as the ideal hope for an achieving peace process [6].However, Mrs. Golda Meir remained firm at her decision and cleverly overruled the subtle thought of the defense minister. Thus, the Bar-Lev Line remained the flawed reality on ground with the prime minister being immovable and determined on her stand. The determination of Mrs. Golda Meir proved to be the greatest asset of Israel during the early critical days of Yom Kippur War.

Under such circumstances, Moshe Dayan, out of panic urged an instant withdrawal from the canal to some new line of defense focusing on the Mitla and Gidi passes and ran along a series of hills and strongholds of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) running parallel to the canal that was several kilometers inside Sinai. This also remained unheard by the prime minister of Israel (Bregman, 2016).

According to published reports (Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 2017), Mrs. Golda Meir remained determined regarding her decision to budge from canal line. She was a single-minded woman who was not dull witted. Her natural intelligence honed by decades of political and diplomatic experience. She deeply understood the difference between the prewar diplomatic posturing along with her historic fateful duty and being the reason for driving war amongst nation. She was unique in understanding the inescapable and unique burden of responsibility that lay on a prime minister in the moments of crisis.

Quantum Leap in Strategic Relationship with the United States

With the release of the report in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the prime minister and her defense minister surrounded by public criticism. The criticism mounted to such an extent that it became increasingly difficult for Mrs. Golda Meir for maintaining her coalition that threatened the rule of the labor party[7]. She thus, made an announcement mentioning that the time has come when she has reached the end of her journey as a prime minister.

Thus, following a week of intense finger pointing and public debate, Prime Minister, Mrs. Golda Meir announced her resignation as the leader of Labour Party just month after forming the 16^th Israel government following the election of December 1973. The following day she also announced from Knesset.

Golda Meir’s Professional Career

According to (Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 2017), Mrs. Golda Meir again won the general election of Israel although her leadership qualities remained in doubt and created confusion amongst the fellow citizens (Reston, 2017). The election in Israel was a fight for democracy amidst an uneasy truce where troops arranged in line for casting votes in mobile ballot boxes. Mrs. Meir was the leader of The Labour Alignment that in addition to misguiding the war outbreak also failed in tackling the domestic issues of housing and inflation [8].However, even after the loss of dozen seats the party further emerged as the only one capable in the formation of the government. Mrs. Meir nominated through the process of acclamation on September 23 that was some two weeks prior to the outbreak of Yom Kippur War. Mrs. Meir declared to the central committee that if there was no scheduling of general election, the government would have placed a resignation after the war and to test the confidence of the public would have gone to the voters. Reports by (Jacoby and Jacoby, 2017) portrayed Mrs. Golda Meir as the most admired woman in America displacing the wife of President Nixon. Further, the reports went on to say that, Mrs. Golda attacked Sir Alec Douglas, the foreign secretary, mentioning that he did not learn from the fact that peace cannot be won through sacrificing smaller nations.

During her tenure, Mrs. Golda Meir, denied America’s suggestions on the ceasefire accommodations of the Middle East by Israel and instead made some proposals of her own where she mentioned that Israel would not undertake withdrawal under any circumstances during the ceasefire (Oplatka, 2017).

According to (The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com, 2017), the Israel prime minister also decided to form minority government approved by the parliamentary fraction of Labour Alignment. Although there existed important elements in the party who preferred newer elections along with a broader coalition[9].The minority government formed was a crucial decision, as it would likely take over Israel for the next coming months. Thus, in order to support the government 51 members of the Labour Alignment party joined by the four independent liberals along with three elected Arab members.

The reports published by ( Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 2017) showed Mrs. Golda Meir has increased dependency on the religious party. Therefore, Mrs. Golda Meir Labour Alignment would depend more on the votes of 11 or 12 Knesser members of the National Religious Party (Lyle & MacLeod, 2016). The prime minister of Israel, Mrs. Golda Meir, has also asked for clarifications from Mr. Kenneth Keathing, the American ambassador regarding the unexpected publication of the agreement between Israel and Egypt. Mrs. Golda Meir has taken the initiative of attacking Syria over the prisoners of war. According to her, the decision of avoiding preemptive action depended on calculated risk.

Political Career of Menachem Begin

Conclusion

The essay ends with a discussion on reason of resignation of Mrs. Golda Meir after the Yom Kippur War in Israel. Mrs. Meir played various roles for the Israeli government that even included her acting as the minister of labor as well as the foreign minister. The Yom Kippur War was the bloodiest war of Israel that killed around 2569 people and wounding around 7000. In the initial hours, the war considered as the end of Zionist enterprise. This war represented catastrophic failure on the part of Israel that also led to the loss of trust and confidence of the political echelon. The war also created ripples of political earthquake in Israel by ending the labor party rule of 29 years along with the marginalization of Menachem Begin and his party. The essay also shed a light the professional career of Mrs. Golda Meir based on the reports published in various media. There is also discussion on the government of Menachem Begin and the internal policy adopted by Israel after the war. The Yom Kippur War was an off guard attack on Israel by the Egyptians and Syrians for launching an attack on the religious holiday of Yom Kippur. This was the only day in the year in Israel when no television or radio broadcast took place along with closure of shops and transportation considered as a part of the religious observations. Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year where people observe solemn and retrospection.

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