ABSTRACT
Israel’s swift and decisive victory in the Six-Day War gave it control of an enormous amount of new territory, but left underlying issues of the conflict unresolved and created many new problems. Israel’s inability to deliver a decisive blow against Palestinian militant forces in the months following the Six-Day War gave militant leaders, particularly Arafat, the feeling that irregular tactics might be the road to success. Israel responded swiftly to Egyptian assaults on its Sinai fortifications. It launched several bombing strikes along the Canal, forcing Egyptians to flee. Israeli intelligence analysts had begun to track the growing rift between the Soviet Union and Egypt, which in their view reduced the likelihood of an Arab attack and led them to dismiss other evidence of impending conflict. On October 6, 1973, Syria and Egypt commenced a surprise campaign against Israel that began on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.
