The Yom Kippur War is much in Israel’s consciousness, again. That happens every year around Yom Kippur, because in Israel, the war still casts a dark shadow on the military leadership of that time, on much of the political echelon, and of course, on Prime Minister Golda Meir. What has long been fascinating about Golda’s legacy is that in the United States she is widely seen as a hero, while in Israel, she is still bitterly and widely blamed for the fiasco that was the start of the war.
But was that assessment fair? That question is but one of the many questions at the heart of a truly great new read, a book about the Yom Kippur War by Uri Kaufman.
For more than 20 years, Uri visited battlefields, interviewed veterans, and reviewed thousands of pages of declassified records. He hired a team of researchers to translate Russian, Arabic and German records. The result is his fascinating new book, Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle East.
We spoke with Kaufman to hear how he came to write the book, what he learned that we should all know, who, in the, was responsible for the fiasco at the beginning and who should get credit for the ultimate victory. And with GOLDA the movie now out, how did she do? Has history judged her fairly?
The link above will take you to a brief excerpt of our conversation; the full conversation, along with a transcript for those who prefer to read, is being made available to paid subscribers to Israel from the Inside.
During the week of the holiday of Sukkot (Monday, October 2 and Wednesday, October 4), we are planning not to post.
The regular schedule of written columns on Mondays and podcasts on Wednesdays will resume the following week.
To all who are observing and celebrating, our wishes for a meaningful and joyous High Holiday season.
Impossible Takes Longer is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and at other booksellers.
Music credits: Medieval poem by Rabbi Shlomo Ibn Gvirol. Melody and performance by Shaked Jehuda and Eyal Gesundheit. Production by Eyal Gesundheit. To view a video of their performance, see this YouTube:
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