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The price of blood was decisive: a jubilee for the ceasefire that brought an end to the war of attrition
968 casualties left the war that began with the end of the six-day system and launched an arms race and hostility that led to a clash in 1973. The foundations of the ceasefire agreement signed 50 years ago at the initiative of US diplomat Rogers were intended to end the conflict between Israel and Egypt, but they remained reluctant and were dragged into another round.
Tags- Golda Meir
- War of Attrition
- Six Day War
- Richard Nixon
- Peace agreement with Egypt
- Egypt
Eli Ashkenazi
Saturday, 08 August 2020, 20:59Heavy rains and heavy cold prevailed across the country on Saturday, April 18, 1970. Three reserve soldiers were killed in an attack by Egyptian planes in the Suez Canal area - Yehuda Shabbat, Sasson Yaffa Avrahami and Ezra Ajami. Eight more IDF soldiers were wounded.
Three terrorist attacks on IDF outposts and patrols on Mount Hermon and the northern Golan Heights ended without casualties and amounted to a 56-word article on page four of the Maariv newspaper. Today it is enough to paralyze an entire country and threaten the spark that ignites war.
And on Saturday night, "a storm of unprecedented winds in the theater in recent years erupted during the satire 'Queen of the Bath' in the Nachmani Hall in Tel Aviv. This storm continued on the street more than an hour after the play ended," Maariv wrote. "Many of those sitting in the hall burst out shouting: 'Contempt!' And 'Home!', Applause of protest and whistles - among other things in the 'Akeda' section where the fathers are accused of dying their sons in battle. "
Along with the headline of the newspaper, which reported on the fall of three IDF soldiers in the canal, another fruitless visit to Israel was reported by Joseph Cisco, Assistant to US Secretary of State William Rogers. Today (Saturday) marks the 50th anniversary of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Egypt. Which led to the end of the war of attrition.The intention was to continue negotiations and eventually reach a peace agreement between the two countries.The "Rogers Plan" was called the initiative.
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The foundations that formed the basis of the plan were intended to bring about a solution to the conflict between Israel and Egypt and Jordan. However, the ceasefire, as is well known, did not continue with a peace agreement and did not prevent the deterioration that led to the Yom Kippur War. Both countries were dragged into another round of violence and a bloody war that claimed thousands of lives. It was only after that war that the two countries began to move closer towards a peace agreement.
In view of the plan formulated by Rogers, Egypt and Israel fortified their positions, what's more, only one day after the ceasefire agreement, the Egyptians violated it. The Israeli government, for its part, believed that "Sharm el-Sheikh without peace is better than peace without Sharm el-Sheikh," as Defense Minister Moshe Dayan put it. The public supported this and the opposition also opposed the advancement of the political process.
The beginning of the war of attrition has several dates, but it is customary to see the beginning of the war on the Egyptian front, as early as June 11, 1967. A few days after the end of the Six Day War. Later, the war also extended to Israel's borders with Jordan and Syria.
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To the full article
In Israel, it was believed that "it is good for Sharm el-Sheikh without peace." Rogers and Rabin in a cartoon by Dosh (Photo: National Library)Five months after the start of the war, the Security Council passed UN Resolution 242 as the basis for peace in the Middle East. Dr. Gunnar Jarring, Sweden's ambassador to the Soviet Union, was appointed by the UN Secretary General as special envoy to implement this resolution.
"Dr. Jarring person Dear and beloved of the people ", was written about him a few years later in a song by his name, written by Yaakov Rotblit and performed by the band" Kif Hatikva Hatova ". But his sincere efforts did not lead to a breakthrough.
With the beginning of Richard Nixon's tenure as President of the United States, in early 1969, he appointed Secretary of State Rogers as mediator between Israel and Egypt and Jordan. In December of that year, Rogers presented his first plan, based on Resolution 242.
According to the plan, Israel had to withdraw to the 1967 borders, with small border amendments and a willingness to recognize temporary security borders to Israel at Sinai. Jerusalem will remain united while Israel and Jordan will have equal status in civil, religious and economic matters. To get around the expected minefield, Jerusalem's political status was not discussed in the plan. The Rogers plan also states that Israel will have freedom of navigation on the Suez Canal and that the future of the Gaza Strip will be discussed in future negotiations.
Egypt and Israel rejected the plan; Egypt has interpreted it as a plan that has too great concessions for Israel. Israel, for its part, called for direct negotiations and also expected to secure its position in Jerusalem.
Egypt also refused to withdraw from the decisions of the Khartoum Conference led by Nasser, President of Egypt, in August 1967, and adhered to the three laws: no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel and no peace with Israel.
In Israel, a unity government headed by the coalition parties led by Golda Meir (63 seats) and Gahal - Gush Herut Liberals, led by Menachem Begin (22 seats) served. In the inflated government that supported a coalition of 104 MKs, 22 ministers and 8 deputy ministers served.
The price of blood
The mutual crushing along the Suez Canal deepened. Almost daily, Israeli and Egyptian soldiers were killed. In August 1969, Defense Minister Dayan addressed officers at the Inter-Armed College and said, "(...) 'Do not be afraid, O servants of Jacob, do not be afraid,' does not mean worry. This statement of the Creator to the Jewish people did not come to give them an insurance policy. And to say: You have nothing to fear, trust me, buys heaven and earth, that I will solve your problems - but on the contrary. The 'Do not be afraid of Jacob's servants' - means: Jacob, do not be Iranian, do not be a coward. Doomed to live in constant struggle and God forbid you fail. In cowardice. "
The Israeli Air Force controlled the airspace and the ground forces carried out several raids on the Egyptian side. Israel received the new "Phantom" aircraft from the United States, but on the other hand the Soviet Union deepened its involvement and armed the Egyptian army with the most advanced weapons at its disposal, which included Sam-3 anti-aircraft missiles, interceptors and their pilots and about 15,000 Russian soldiers, officers and advisers. .
The price of blood went up. On May 30, 13 IDF soldiers were killed in an Egyptian ambush that crossed the canal. On the Egyptian side, hundreds of soldiers were killed in one month.
In Tel Aviv, the Cameri Theater staged the play by Hanoch Levin. It was a poignant and painful satire. The Film and Drama Review Board cut excerpts from the show, but even then it still provoked anger and criticism. Few came out in her defense.
"Hanoch Levin's play, his satire, in principle - does not in any way go against the IDF, it does not matter, or against widows and bereaved mothers and fathers, it does not matter," wrote Moshe Ben Israel in Maariv. "It comes out in an unconventional way against satisfaction. The self of many of us a-propo the 'situation'. Man's condition - nowadays, now. A situation in which war, heroism, and I often feel sorry for myself - even the worst of all: the loss of human life. "
Rogers did not say desperately and in June 1970 presented his second plan. The lovable Dr. Yaring returned to the arena to lead the negotiations. Between Israel and Egypt. This plan was also based on Resolution 242 of the Security Council, according to which Israel must return to the 1967 borders.
The program received criticism from the unity government and also from a broad section of the public and the Israeli press. For example, in the collection of cartoons by Kriel Gardosh ("Dosh") kept in the National Library, "Gahal's position, which sat in the government and opposed the program, is repeatedly represented," said Hezi Amior, curator of the Israel Collection at the National Library.
"Dosh" was an important cartoonist. The character of “Srulik.” Amior explained that in his cartoons from that period Srulik is always the sucker of the world, the same world that is always against us. There is no doubt that Dosh is an excellent representation of the moods of the right in those days. "
He emphasizes that" the party, led by Golda Meir, who was then at the height of his political power, did not agree to give up the achievements of the Six Day War. It should be understood that Israel has not yet been sponsored by the United States. The same rapprochement took place later, when the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Yitzhak Rabin, played a key role in it. "
The clashes along the Suez Canal escalated. Shauli Weizmann, the son of Transport Minister Ezer Weizmann, was wounded in the head by an Egyptian sniper. Aircraft flown by Russian pilots.The Russians in turn deepened their involvement.The Egyptians brought the missile batteries closer to the canal and the Air Force's advantage diminished.
Both countries licked the wounds and agreed to the U.S. proposal for a ceasefire. The Gahal party was divided within it, but in the end Begin led the departure of the unity government. He saw the ceasefire agreement as a first step towards future Israeli withdrawals from the territories it occupied during the Six Day War.
At midnight on August 7 and 8, 1970, the ceasefire between Israel entered and Egypt into force. 968 Israelis have been killed in this war, half of them in the Suez Canal. on the Egyptian side were ten thousand dead.
at night it signed a ceasefire agreement promoted Egyptians, sponsored by the Russians, the missile batteries to the water line. in response Israel has suspended talks mediated by jarring. in Nasser died on September 28, 1970, and was replaced by Sadat. Talks resumed in February 1971. The
opposition, led by Begin, led demonstrations against the "territories in exchange for peace" formula. A new immigrant from the United States, Rabbi Meir Kahana, also joined the demonstrations. Thursday "," Good from the Suez - only the Nile "etc. The demonstration he held in front of the United States Embassy came from Dimona, where he led a demonstration of a thousand participants against the" black Hebrews "community.
In February 1971, Yaring passed a questionnaire to Egypt and Israel. Israel clarified that a return to the June 4, 1967 lines could not be a precondition. Egypt's representative to the UN surprised and told reporters that "Egypt has informed Dr. Yaring that we are ready to make peace with Israel and pay its price."
On October 4, 1971, Rogers submitted his third proposal in hopes of creating a rift in the stalled negotiations. Israel demanded a permanent ceasefire and freedom of navigation and opposed unilateral concessions as a precondition. Her demands were denied. On the same day the offer fell through.
However, attempts to reach a settlement have not stopped. Researcher Dr. Yigal Kipnis in his book "1973, the road to war," wrote a year before the Yom Kippur presented Egypt to the United States peace initiative secret, but according to the documents Kipnis, Prime Minister Meir Ministers Dayan and Israel Galili rejected this initiative.
In October 1973 War Day Only after that did the two countries begin to seriously discuss a peace agreement between them.