Map – War of 1973 (1973 – 1978)

TIME PERIOD: 1973 – 1978

“On October 6,1973 the Egyptian Army “launched a sudden attack upon the Israeli forces on the east bank of the Suez Canal; at the same moment, and by agreement, the Syrian army attacks the Israelis from the Golan Heights. In the first rush of fighting, the Egyptian army succeeded in crossing the [Suez] canal and establishing a bridgehead, and the Syrians occupied part of the Golan Heights; weapons supplied by the Russians enabled them to neutralize the Israeli air force, which had won the victory of 1967. In the next few days, however, the military tide turned. Israeli forces crossed the canal and established their own bridgehead on the west bank [of the Suez Canal] and drove the Syrians back towards Damascus.”

Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, p. 418, Warner Books Inc, 1991
“[U.S. Secretary of State] Henry Kissinger persuaded Egypt and Israel to sign a disengagement accord, whereby Israel withdrew from the western bank of the Suez Canal, to about twenty miles from the east bank of the canal. Egypt agreed to a major reduction of troops east of Suez, the establishment of a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone, defensive missile emplacements only west of Suez, and the allowing of nonmilitary Israeli shipping through the canal (though not in Israeli vessels).”

Ian J. Bickerton & Carla L. Klausner, A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict p. 185, fourth edition, Prentice Hall, 2002

“Henry Kissinger achieved a disengagement accord between Israel and Syria regarding the Golan Heights. Israel agreed to withdraw from some occupied territory in the Heights in return for the establishment of a U.N. buffer zone and defensive Arab missile placements. President Hafez al-Assad of Syria also agreed in a private memorandum to prevent any Palestinian terrorist groups from launching attacks from Syria. In return, the United States resumed diplomatic relations with Syria.”

Ian J. Bickerton & Carla L. Klausner, A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict p. 185, fourth edition, Prentice Hall, 2002<

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