15.

The IDF was formed in battle, as the country was attacked within hours of its formation by
all its Arab neighbours. However, after the War of Independence, the Sinai Campaign, fought to
put an end to the terrorist incursions into Israel and to remove the Egyptian blockade of the Israeli
port of Eilat, marking the final transformation of the IDF into a professional army capable of large-
scale operations. The Sinai was then held by Egypt, which had occupied the Gaza strip and
blockaded Eilat. A battle plan for the operation was adopted in October 1956. Israel landed
paratroopers into the eastern approaches to the Mitla Pass near the Suez Canal on October 29.
Simultaneously, Israeli armoured units attacked the Egyptian forces from the east. After fierce
fighting, the whole of Sinai was in Israeli hands by 05 November. This campaign showed the
direction the IDF had taken, namely that determining factors in the Israeli mode of warfare would
be the armoured Corps and the Air Force.

16. In May 1967, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser expelled the UN forces stationed
in the Gaza Strip and again blockaded Eilat.When the Israel Air Force estimated that it could
destroy the large Egyptian Air Force within six hours, the claim was considered exaggerated.
However, the air strike, which opened the direct hostilities of the Six Day War, had been
simulated repeatedly, and was aided by excellent intelligence. The entire IAF was engaged in the
operation, except for twelve Mirage fighters assigned to defend Israel's air space. The strike was
timed for 7:45, when the Egyptian pilots who flew the early morning patrols would be back at their
bases for breakfast. At 7:14 the first wave of 183 Israeli planes took off. Thirty-one minutes later
they were over their targets, attacking eleven airports and destroying 197 planes together with
radar stations and other supporting facilities. The second wave attacked sixteen airports while a
third wave attacked the Jordanian Air Force, destroying it fully and the Syrian Air Force,
destroying half of it. Simultaneously, the ground forces crossed into the Sinai and destroyed one
and a half divisions of the Egyptian Army in just over a day.

17. When the Jordanian army opened sporadic artillery fire at various points, the IDF
Northern Command attacked. On 07 June, they moved into the Jordan Valley and conquered the
Hebron hills. The Jordan army lost most of its heavy equipment during this time.On the morning
of 09 Jun, two brigades of the IDF Northern Command broke through Syrian defences on the
Golan Heights and after seven hours of fighting, established two strongholds, which they
expanded during the night. On the morning of 10 Jun, within hours of two Israeli motorise
brigades joining the action, the Syrian defences collapsed. The Syrian forces withdrew during the
day and took up defensive positions along the road to Damascus, when the Israeli government
ordered its forces to stop the advance. A cease-fire cam into effect at 1800 on the same day.

18. Subsequent to this war, which came to be known as the ‘Six-Day War’, the Arab states
tried to achieve in isolated attacks what they could not achieve in an all-out war, the aim being to
engage Israel in a drawn out and bloody conflict. This came to be known as the ‘War of Attrition’.
Egyptian army carried out heavy artillery shelling on Israeli posts along the Suez Canal and
sporadic incursions into Israeli-held territory. At the same time, fighting continued on and off in the
Golan Heights, with the Syrians also sending commando units to operate behind Israeli lines. At
about the same time, the Palestine Liberation Organisation or PLO set up camps in Jordan, Syria
and Lebanon. Infiltration of terrorists also pose a problem for the Israelis, especially along the
border with Jordan.As a response to all these activities, Israel launched air strikes against
Egyptian anti-aircraft installations in December 1969 and in January 1970 against strategic
targets deep inside Egyptian territory. It also used its tank forces on the Jordanian and Syrian
fronts. Commando raids across the borders were also carried out to flush out extremist camps.
Israel also set up a sophisticated system of electronic fences and warning devices along the
border with Jordan. Cease-fires with Egypt and Syria came into effect in August 1970 and in
September 1970, Jordan expelled the Palestinians from their territories, which brought some
peace to the region.

19. By far the most famous war involving Israel with its neighbours was fought in 1973 from
06 to 24 October 1973 and is known as the ‘Yom Kippur War’, as Israel was struck by the
Egyptian and Syrian air forces on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. So complete was the
element of surprise that when war erupted, Israel was only beginning to mobilise the reserve
forces which form the bulk of the IDF. The thin forces stationed along the two fronts had to
contain the invading armies until the IDF was prepared to meet them in force. The IAF was
hampered by the dense anti-aircraft missile system, which the enemy had deployed close to the
front. Egyptian forces succeeded in crossing the Canal and establishing beachheads on the
Israeli-held east bank. On the Golan Heights, the Syrians pushed past the cease-fire lines and
occupied a large area. They also seized the key Israeli intelligence- gathering position high on Mt.
Hermon.

20. Within two days, the IDF deployed fully. Due to the numerical superiority of the Syrian
forces and the presence of Jewish settlements in the path of the advancing Syrian army, priority
was given to this front. By 10 October, the entire Golan Heights was again in Israeli hands and by
14 October they penetrated into Syrian territory. On the Southern front, early Israeli counter-
offensives failed but the Israeli units managed to overcome an Egyptian tank attack, destroying
200 of them in the process. To push the war into Egyptian territory, Israeli Engineers built a
bridge across the Suez Canal so that by 19 October Israeli forces were well established on the
west bank of the Canal and had the Egyptian army surrounded from all sides by October 24,
when a cease-fire came into effect.

21. In later years the PLO established an elaborate set-up in Lebanon and carried out
repeated attacks inside Israel as the Arab states showed a tendency of becoming more
accommodating with Israel. Repeated terrorist attacks were carried out inside Israel. After one
such attack on a bus, which resulted in thirty casualties, the IDF occupied almost all of southern
Lebanon. This resulted in the creation of two corridors between the terrorist area and Israel’s
northern border.

22. In 1982 the well known Beqa Valley conflict, which was recently covered in much detail,
occurred, in which the IDF showed its capacity to engage in a modern conflict, effectively
eliminating the Syrian air defences. Other famous operations include the rescue of Israeli
hostages from a hijacked Air France airliner from Entebbe airport in Kampala, Uganda in 1977
and the destruction of an Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osiraq near Baghdad in 1981.

23. Thus the country of Israel has a rather violent past. The repeated opening of hostilities by
its neighbours, which have always contended Israel’s right to exist have played a major role in the
IDF becoming the force it is, as it is counted among the best and the most well-equipped defence
forces in the world today.