Crossing Suez, 1973

Book excerpt: After being taken by surprise on October 6, 1973, just like the Red Army was in 1941, with its defense line breached and its political leaders unnerved, the Israeli Defense Forces managed to pull itself together. Successfully repelling Egyptian attacks, it took initiative on October 15, launching its decisive maneuver; the Crossing of the Suez. This book, published after a long struggle with Israeli Military establishment, tells the full story of this campaign, from its prewar planning, through wartime operational and technical challenges, until its successful culmination; the delivery of Israeli armored forces west of the Canal, which eventually forced Egypt to the negotiation table. The Crossing of the Suez was, at that time, the most difficult campaign the IDF had ever waged. It bred some difficult questions which remain unanswered and controversies which still resonate within the Israeli military establishment and general population. This book offers a neutral, new point of view about these controversies, based on first-hand testimonies which fully reveal the infighting among Israeli senior command; the tension between the offensive-minded Ariel Sharon and his more cautious superiors. The author, Dr. Amiram Ezov, formerly an IDF infantry and artillery officer, worked in IDF's History Department over the course of 14 years, where he published several volumes about the Southern Front in the Yom Kippur War; some of which are still classified. He has been investigating the Israeli Crossing Campaign, code name Operation Valiant, since 2006. "A fascinating book, one of the most important works dealing with that war....revealing, for the first time, the behind-the-scenes secrets of the Crossing's planning." Ronen Bergman, a senior Israeli military reporter, author of Yom Kippur War-Real Time.