Welcome to:

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www.lehrhaus.org
Welcome to Understanding Israel A
Lehrhaus-To-Go Course Learn Anywhere, Anytime
Course Topics (1) 1800s-1919 Birth of the
Zionist Movement (2) 1919-1950s British
Mandate, the War of Independence and Its
Consequences (3) 1950-Present Challenges of the
Emerging State (4) 1966-1972 The Six Day War and
Its Aftermath (5) 1973-1983 The Yom Kippur War
and the Begin Era (approximately 80 minutes) (6)
1980s-2000 Intifada I and the Oslo Peace Process
(7) 2000-Present Intifada II, Ariel Sharon, and
the Future
Jehon Grist
Fred Rosenbaum
Instructor Fred Rosenbaum Narrator/Producer
Jehon Grist, Ph.D.
Questions? jehon_at_lehrhaus.org
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Donors Who Made This Program Possible
CD-ROM Production Tillie and Rene Molho
Endowment for Holocaust Remembrance of the Jewish
Community Foundation of the Greater East
Bay Research and Text Development Dr. Barbara
and Richard Rosenberg Technology
Development The Ruth and Marco Goodman
Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Community
Foundation of the Greater East Bay
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The Yom Kippur War and the Begin Era Discussion
Outline

• After Nasser Sadat Skillfully Prepares for War
• Egypt and Syria Attack on Two Fronts on Yom
  Kippur
• Israel Survives and Triumphs, October 1973
• Mid 1970s Fighting Terrorism in Many Places
• Anwar Sadats Call for Peace, 1977-1981
• Menachem Begin Takes the Helm in Israel,
  1977-1983
• Israeli Settlers in Gaza and the West Bank
• New Challenges from Lebanon and Iraq

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Emerging Out of Nassers Shadow Al-Assad of
Syria and Sadat of Egypt
Gamal Abd al Nasser
Hafez al Assad
Anwar Sadat
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The Israelis are sleeping.
Israel Chief of Staff David Dado Elazar
Defense Minister Moshe Dayan
SAM 3 Missile Battery
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Mobilize or Wait? Golda Meirs Agonizing Decision
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The Syrian Advance An avalanche out of the
north.
Israeli F-4 Phantoms
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An Impressive (and terrifying) Egyptian Advance
in the Sinai
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The ninth of October was the blackest day of the
war, because on it we learned of the extent of
the failure of October 8, and we had no more
reserves. There was nothing more. The war was
perceived at that moment not only as at a
critical juncture and almost beyond despair, but
as a war for our very national and physical
existence. General Israel Tal, Israel Deputy
Chief of Staff, Yom Kippur War Source Michael
Karpin, The Bomb in the Basement (2006), 326.
Meir and Dayan Weigh the Nuclear Option, October
9, 1973
Dimona Nuclear Plant
Model Weapon Core
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So we have the secret Dimona staff on hand, to
tell us how many nuclear warheadswe called the
Temple weaponswe could have ready. In all, 25,
for missile launchers and F-4s. To arm these is
not such a long debate. For years weve labored,
and spent billions we needed elsewhere, to build
this arsenal. It was meant for nothing else, only
a new Masada, and our first nuclear bomb has on
it, written in Hebrew, Never Again. And now
not use it?no, we arm the planes. The debate is
what to hit and when. I smoke 3 packs that night,
and when the cabinet breaks up, I phoned Dinitz
in Washington. I say, Call Kissinger now.
Simcha says, At 3 in the morning? Yes. Tell
him the resources to continue we dont have
Simcha says, Ive told him, I gave him the
shopping list And weve gone on nuclear
alert. What? Tell him our nuclear bombs are
loaded and operational, and were targeting our
friends military headquarters. What? Tell
him, believe it. I hardly believe it myself,
am I walking in my sleep? Military headquarters
means Cairo and Damascus, an obliteration of the
millions in those cities, killed, maimed, burned,
bleedingAnd might the Soviets then bomb in
reprisal Tel Aviv? And the United States then
bomb Moscow and Moscow bomb New York? Our little
war isnt taking place in a bottle, it was a
piece of the Cold War for world control. In
our eyes too, the worst of all, the power is
ours. And the choice. What choice, do I even
think of letting Israel die?no, Im physically
sick, cant sleep, cant eat, have nothing in my
stomach but am vomiting all day. . . What am I
thinking? About the Temple weaponsI cant
answer my own question. But 75 years ago in Kiev
my father nailed up boards against a pogrom. And
to come in one lifetime all the way from the
sound of that hammer to life in a state of our
own, where we can take in every brother and
sister in the world who wants to come homewhat
more can a Jew ask?
Contemplating the Impossible Golda and the
Bomb Excerpt from William Gibsons Play Goldas
Balcony (2003)
Click on image above for discussion
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The Airlift That Saved Israel, October 1973
President Nixon and Israeli Ambassabor Dinitz
Source www.gwu.edu
Richard Nixon
Henry Kissinger
American C-5 Galaxy Cargo Plane
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Reversing the Syrian Advance 22 Miles from
Damascus
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October 14 Israel Crosses the Suez Canal to Egypt
Moshe Dayan and Ariel Sharon
Source Wikipedia Commons
Israeli Bridge Across Suez to Egypt
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Soviets Threaten Middle East Invasion
American Response Defcon 3-- Nuclear Alert
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Henry Kissinger and the Triumph of Shuttle
Diplomacy
Henry Kissinger
Hafez Al Assad
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Laying Blame The Agranat Report
Israel Chief of Staff General David Dado Elazar
Israel Chief Justice Shimon Agranat
Yitzhak Rabin
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Closing Paragraph of UN Resolution 3379 November,
1975 . . . Taking note also of the Political
Declaration and Strategy to Strengthen
International Peace and Security and to Intensify
Solidarity and Mutual Assistance among
Non-Aligned Countries, adopted at the Conference
of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Non-Aligned
Countries held at Lima from 25 to 30 August 1975,
which most severely condemned zionism as a threat
to world peace and security and called upon all
countries to oppose this racist and imperialist
ideology, Determines that Zionism is a form of
racism and racial discrimin-ation.
Yasser Arafat at the United Nations
The United States, rises to declare before the
General Assembly of the United Nations and before
the world that it does not acknowledge, it will
not abide by, it will never acquiesce in this
infamous act.
UN Ambassador Moynihan
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The Oil Weapon and Terrorist Attacks
Source Marty Lederhandler/Associated Press
Maalot, Israel, near Lebanese border
Evacuating a Wounded Student
Low Gas Supplies During Arab Oil Embargo
Source bbc.co.uk Maa lot school children being
buried
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A huge crowd des-cended on Ben-Gurion Airport . .
. The nations thrill of pride and relief evinced
more than gra-tification at a remar-kable
military feat. It was a collective psy-chological
release after the trauma of the Yom Kippur War,
after end-less economic pro-blems (many of which
stemmed from that conflict) . . . and un-relieved
Arab hostility. Howard M. Sachar, A History of
Israel, vol. 2 (1987), 11.
Countering Terrorism with Courage and Skill The
Entebbe Raid, July 1976
Yonatan Yoni Netanyahu
Rescued hostages at Ben Gurion Airport, 7/4/76
Ugandas Idi Amin
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But I am here now!
Sadat at Knesset, 1977
Anwar Sadats Historic Visit to Israel

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Jimmy Carters Bold (and Desperate) Move Camp
David, September, 1978
Sadat at Camp David, 1978
Ezer Weizmann
Moshe Dayan
Anwar Sadat, Jimmy Carter and Menachem Begin at
Camp David
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Relinquishing the Sinai for Peace with Egypt,
1979-1982
Rubble of Yamit Demolition, 1982
Camp David Accords, 1979
Ariel Sharon
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The High Price of Peace Anwar Sadats
Assassination, October 6, 1981
Attackers Fire on Presidential Reviewing Stand
Anwar Sadat, 1981
Hosni Mubarak
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Begins Triumph, 1977 Partnering with Jews from
Arab Lands and the Orthodox Parties
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Greater Israel Jabotinskys Dream, Begins
Policy
Source http//newsimg.bbc.co.uk
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Rabbi Zvi Kook
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Maale Adumim, a West Bank Jerusalem Suburb
Ariel Sharon, Minister of Agriculture, 1981
Ariel Sharon, Minister of Agriculture, 1981
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Begins West Bank Settlement Expansion Controversy
. . . No step by the Israeli government could be
more damaging. President Jimmy Carter
Armed Israeli Settlers in Hebron
Israeli Demolition of West Bank Palestinian House
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The Biblical Imperative Settling Near Places
Sacred to Judaism
Palestinian El Jib, Biblical Gibeon, 20 km N. of
Jerusalem
Tomb of the Patriarchs, Hebron
Ezer Weizman
Begin and Dayan
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Never Again Begins Bold Move Against Iraqs
Nuclear Threat
Main Osiraq reactor building, Iraq
Ilan Ramon of the Osiraq raid, later lost his
life in Shuttle Columbia disaster
Israeli crew of Osiraq raid
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The Tragedy of Lebanon in the 1970s
Bashir Gemayel
Left Yasser Arafat at Palestinian Refugee Camp,
Southern Lebanon
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Trigger for War The Argov Assassination Attempt,
1982
Ambassador Shlomo Argov
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From Triumph to Tragedy The Siege of Beirut,
Summer 1982
Yasser Arafat Leaves Beirut for Tunis
Philip Habib
Bashir Gemayel
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Menachem Begin
Ariel Sharon
Phalangist Atrocity at Sabra and Shatilla Camps
Rafael Eitan
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Hezbollah Emerges in Lebanon, 1980s
Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran Hezbollahs Inspirat
ion
Hezbollahs Current Leader, Hassan Nasrallah
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AIPAC Israels Voice in America
Senator Barak Obama at Recent AIPAC Convention
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Read All About It! Recommended Reading for This
Session
Click on the I for information icon to read the
chapter.