Major General recalls fighting with Sharon in Yom Kippur War
The Israeli commander whose 500 soldiers were stationed along the Suez Canal on the day 100,000 Egyptians invaded has spoken of the “earthquake” of the attack, 40 years after the Yom Kippur War.
Maj. Gen. Amnon Reshef, who commanded the 14th Armoured Brigade under Ariel Sharon, told the Jewish News of the moment when tens of thousands of enemy soldiers crossed the narrow waterway with over 1,000 tanks and 250 jets.
“It was as if the whole of the Sinai desert was moving,” said Reshef (pictured right), who was 35 at the time and only two days away from finishing his tour of duty at the front.
Get The Jewish News Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up
“It felt like an earthquake,” he said. “In the very first seconds we had casualties, and in just over two hours, 23,000 Egyptian soldiers crossed the canal. I had 82 soldiers killed and 102 wounded on the first day.”
Reshef’s 56 tanks, covering a 200km stretch along the east bank of the canal, tried to stop the Egyptian but several Israeli strongholds were over-run.
“It was like a flood,” he recalled. “We didn’t have any intelligence from above, so one of my first tasks was to understand where they were crossing and with what forces. I also had to see to the wounded and call for reinforcements. Everything is a priority in moments like that.”
Those reinforcements, together with Gen. Ariel Sharon, took 24 hours to arrive, at which point Reshef had lost two thirds of his tanks.
“Sharon was very offensive. He was one of the only ones who really understood what was going on.
“At the Battle of the Chinese Farm [an Israeli attack on an Egyptian stronghold, on the night of 15 October, when Israel destroyed 250 Egyptian tanks] Sharon was under immense pressure from his commanders but he never once put pressure on me, he never gave me an order, it was just consultation. He was very calm, very clever, a great leader.”
The battle comprised many hours of vicious close-quarter fighting resulting in over 120 Israeli dead, is considered by the veteran soldier Reshef as “the most terrible night of fighting in the IDF’s history”.
In the aftermath, sat perched on Reshef’s tank, he and Sharon sat talking.
“I was debriefing him, and he was talking about our options,” Reshef recalls. “We were exhausted. Suddenly I realised I was sleeping while he was talking and he was sleeping when I was talking! So we both went to get some rest.”
Reshef’s rousing speech on the eve of battle is still used across the IDF in military leadership training, and 40 years on the commander has nothing but praise for his men.
“My soldiers were heroes,” he says. “With their bodies they stopped the Egyptians and won the war. They were prepared to give their lives for their country. They were all heroes.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
-
By Brigit Grant
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)