October Earthquake Yom Kippur 1973

The Yom Kippur War shook Israel from its foundations to the very summit. A deep lack of confidence suddenly replaced the excessive arrogance, and was most noticeable among leaders and senior officers. For the first time since the War of Independence in 1948, Israel's military supremacy and defensive capability-as well as its ultimate survival-were in jeopardy. Zeev Schiff, who is widely regarded as Israel's foremost military commentator, presents a chronological account of the days preceding the war along with the salient military and political events of each day of the conflict. His comments on Israel's exaggerated self-confidence, the hopelessness of Israeli leadership, the intelligence failure, the concept of the Bar Lev Line, the role of the air force, and the preparedness of the Arab army are interspersed throughout. Based on documents, interviews, and recordings of command discussions during the battles, the book exposes polrticization, weakening control, bureaucracy, and moral erosion in the Israeli military and government. Schiff asserts that the lessons of this war must be learned in order for Israel to survive. There must be fundamental revision not only in the military, but also in the moral and social quality of Israeli life: education, immigrant absorption, economics, the political and electoral system, and leadership. "The earthquake of October might yet be the cure for Israel's ailments." October Earthquake won Israel's Sokolov Prize for the outstanding journalistic work of 1974.