Golan Heights, battles of (1967, 1973). The high plateau of the Golan Heights stretches 45 miles (72 km) south from Mount Hermon, is up to 15 miles (24 km) wide, and dominates Israel's northern frontier with Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, as well as the river Jordan—and therefore Israel's water supply. Because Syrian forces stationed on the rocky outcrops threatened the Galilee plain, which they had frequently shelled pre-war, the IDF opened the Six Day War with a pre-emptive assault on the Heights on 9 June 1967. Airborne forces delivered by helicopter subdued key Syrian garrisons, while armoured bulldozers preceded mechanized columns up steep mountain tracks. Attacking with seven brigades under Maj Gen David Elazar, within a day the IDF bundled the Soviet-trained Syrian forces off the Golan, inflicting losses of 7, 500 killed and wounded with 100 tanks and 200 guns destroyed, for a loss of just over 400 Israeli soldiers.
In the October 1973 Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) war, five Syrian divisions attempted to retrieve the Heights in an attack coinciding with an Egyptian strike in Sinai. The two armoured brigades of IDF defenders possessed only 180 Centurions and M-60s against the Syrian armoured forces' 1, 300 tanks, including Soviet T-55s and T-62s, with APCs in close support, while concentrations of SAMs kept the Israeli Air Force at bay. Achieving total surprise, Syrian tanks assaulted the Golan on 6 October but continuous fighting—which stretched the endurance of both sides' tank crews to the limit—resulted in an epic Israeli victory just four days later. The Israelis stood their ground, sustaining 90 per cent casualties and the loss of all their armour, but 7th Armoured Brigade had destroyed over 500 Syrian vehicles in the northern sector (‘the valley of tears’) before its destruction and 188th inflicted similar damage in the south. Their sacrifices bought time for three reserve armoured formations to be mobilized and rushed to the area.
Forty-eight hours of solid fighting saw Syrian units across the Heights, at terrible cost, and approaching the Upper Jordan. There they were halted by the timely arrival of the IDF reserves, but further heavy fighting was required to stabilize the front. The reservists managed to surround and destroy massed Syrian armour in the Hushniya pocket, and on 10 October Israel went over to the offensive, pushing the demoralized Syrian forces back beyond their start line. Moroccan, Jordanian, and Iraqi forces tried in vain to stem the IDF counter-attack, and by the time of the UN-sponsored ceasefire (on 22 October) over 1, 300 wrecked or abandoned Arab armoured vehicles choked the Golan Heights, while 10, 000 of the attackers had been killed, wounded, or captured. The Israelis lost 250 tanks and 3, 000 casualties, but the victory had been a very close-run affair. These battles affirmed the strategic importance of the Golan Heights, and the area now bristles with early warning radar, IDF bases, and paramilitary Jewish settlements.
— Peter Caddick-Adams
