After the 1967 Six Day War the Arabs were distraught and humiliated by the loss of land and the Israeli occupation that followed the conflict.  Twice they have gone to war against the Jewish State and came up extremely short of any success. Egypt and Syria remained the strength of the Arab contingency in the region and wanted to avenge previous embarrassments.  Many hoped that after the death of Nasser of Egypt that new peace could be bridged between Egypt and Israel.  Nasser's replacement, Anwar Sadat, initially did not fit the mold of a peace-maker as he promised to regain the lands lost in previous conflicts.  In 1973 Egypt under the leadership of Anwar Sadat along with Syria  and a coalition of Arab neighbors attacked Israel.  The state of Israel was at that point being led by legendary leader Golda Meir.  The War known as the Yom Kippur War by the Israeli's and the Ramadan War by the Arabs began on the holiest day of  the Israeli religious holidays.  The war began on October 6, 1973 and ended on October 26, 1973.  On Yom Kippur, the holiest day for Jews, not only observant, but most secular Jews fast, abstain from any use of fire, electricity, engines, communications, as well as many other modern conveniences, and all road traffic comes to a standstill. Many soldiers left military facilities for home during the holiday and Israel was left open and vulnerable.  Only limited defense units remained at their posts.

The conflict began when Egypt and Syria breached the lines established in the 1967 Six Days War.  Egypt crossed into the Sinai and Syria entered the Golan Heights and staged a surprise attack on the Jewish religious holiday, Yom Kippur Day. The Surprise attack was effective for the first two days of the conflict but after that Israel pushed Syria out of the Golan Heights.  Syria's threat to Israel was extinguished in the first two weeks of the war.  Israel then set it's priorities toward the Sinai troops of Egypt. Prior to the war the Soviet Union  as they had done in the past supplied the Arabs with supplies and intelligence for their assault.  The United States after the surprise attack air dropped supplies and resources to give Israel the chance to regroup and counter the Arab assault.  Hafiz al-Asaad of Syria felt strongly that the recent build up of Syrian military might would be able to lead the Arabs to victory.  Syria was not interested in negotiating any peace agreement to return the Golan Heights to Syria's control.  Al-Asaad hoped that Syria would become the new power of influence in the region. As history has shown this was a mistake.  An unwillingness to negotiate with an Israel that was willing to return the occupied lands in return for state recognition and peace agreements led to another defeat at the hands of Jews.  Egypt and Syria leading up to the war depended heavily upon Russian machinery and military strategy.  The threat from Egypt subsided as the Israeli war machine pushed the Egyptian troops back across the Suez Canal beaten at the hands of Israel for a fourth time.  The 1973 Arab-Israeli conflict once again ended with similar results as the two previous wars and proved to be more beneficial for Israel than the Arabs.  It established air and land superiority and placed the shame of  defeat once again on the two main Arab states of influence in the region.  Egypt and Syria..  At the end the Arabs did not win the Sinai or the Golan Heights back.  They actually were pushed further away from the lands they sought to win..  Israel was within striking distance of Cairo when Russia ceased the advance by threatening to intervene if Israel did not withdraw.

At the end of hostilities brought on by  UN resolution 339 and under U.S. and Soviet pressure to stop fighting, Israel allowed a trapped Egyptian Army to survive at the urgency of the U.S. government.  This fact was a key feature in getting Egypt to expel military advisors from the Soviets and forcing Egypt to enter peace negotiations with Israel.  A first for an Arab state.  Israel and Egypt reached a disengagement agreement in January 1974, whereby Israeli Defense Forces withdrew back across the canal and Israeli and Egyptian troops were separated in the Sinai by a UNEF-manned buffer zone. Israel signed a separate agreement with Syria on May 31, 1974, whereby Israel withdrew to the 1967 cease-fire line in the Golan Heights and a United Nations Disengagement Observer Force occupied a buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces.  The buffer zones were meant to act as interference if any of the nations sought to violate the ceasefire agreements.

The Yom Kippur War On October 6, 1973, Yom Kippur Day, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar — Egypt and Syria opened a coordinated surprise attack against Israel

Yom Kippur War  The war lasted for 3 weeks, and started on October 6, 1973 and ended on October 22 on the Syrian front and on October 26 on the Egyptian front.

Yom Kippur War- Milchement Yom Kippur - October War  In October 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a war against Israel, after the Israeli government headed by Golda Meir rebuffed Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's offers to negotiate a settlement.