That war's lesson: no defense cuts
On the third day of that fateful war, 38 years ago this Saturday, my comrades and I found ourselves on a sand dune, where Natan (Natke) Nir's armored brigade had been fighting. We saw tanks advance toward the Suez Canal to repel the Egyptian forces. Billowing smoke; fire; dust clouds.
Having witnessed the Six Day War we were all-but certain that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were obliterating the enemy. But when faced with the reality we resorted to denial to convince ourselves, while inside we were trembling, that we were dealing them a crushing blow. Eventually we stopped believing ourselves.
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While the IDF ultimately prevailed in what was an unparalleled victory, the feeling was that we had been dealt a crushing defeat, and our hearts were wrenched. The brigade went on to complete its tour, but then opposition leader Menachem Begin continued to lash out against the government and asked, "why were forces not moved toward the front lines before the war-"
Others claimed that he had no grasp of the matter and that sending more forces to the front would have resulted in an even greater number of casualties.
On Thursday I asked retired Maj. Gen. Dr. Emanuel Sakal on the validity of Begin's accusations. Sakal has recently written a book called "The Regular Forces will Push Back" on the IDF doctrine in 1973 that was based on having the regular forces hold the lines until reserves were called up. Sakal, won a citation for his bravery on the southern front during the war. He says Begin was right.
In his book, which is based on his PhD, Sakal claims that the war could have been averted had the chief of General Staff at the time David Elazar and GOC Southern Command Shmuel "Gorodish" Gonen not been so utterly divorced from reality.
The two or three generations of soldiers thereafter - in the regular army, the professional army and in the reserve forces - have vowed not to forget; they will not let this happen on their watch; no longer will there be an uncontested dogma on the enemy's modus operandi and the IDF will never again be caught flatfooted.
But life has its own twists and turns; many things are no longer so clear cut. The economy is a sore point for us, and the public health system is a pressing matter; the vigilance we need to defend our country in this hostile neighborhood a villa in a jungle, as Defense Minister Ehud Barak puts it has given way to turning a blind eye and to hedonism. Too many people seek the good life. This is a recipe for Israel finding itself, once again, isolated when war breaks out, because of hubris and/or complacency.
Ever since the war, generations of grown-ups have been retelling the story to their children, much like the story of our Exodus from Egypt is passed on to the younger generation each Passover. For they should know what happened 38 years ago; so that they should not experience the same sense of failure. I have been a staunch opponent of defense cuts ever since that war, no matter which party or leader is at the helm of government. This is the only way to finally realize the biblical vision of "the land had rest for forty years." Even then, we would still have to hold on to the sword.
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