A Yom Kippur battle through the lens of the US Civil War

[Valin]

The Times of Israel

In new book ‘From Gettysburg to Golan,’ a former IDF officer finds the parallels between Israeli and Union tactics in the 1973 war and the American conflict
Judah Ari Gross

September 22, 2015

 

As they faced down hundreds of Syrian tanks barreling toward the Golan Heights, the similarities between their fight and the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War was probably the last thing IDF soldiers had on their minds during the Yom Kippur War. Yet the parallels exist.

 

The differences between the two battles are obvious: the time period, the location, the scale of the fighting, the weapons used. One was an internal struggle for control, while the other was an invasion attempt by foreign countries. Close to 45,000 Rebel and Union soldiers died in the Battle of Gettysburg, while just a tiny fraction of that number perished on the Golan Heights in 1973. Though Israeli casualties were well documented, Syria does not have exact figures for the battle, but most experts put the figure in the hundreds to low thousands.

 

The Civil War lasted just over four years; the Yom Kippur War was over in less than three weeks. But the connection is there, for those who wish to find it. Barry Spielman, a retired IDF lieutenant colonel and Civil War buff, lays out the similarities between these two famous battles in his book, “From Gettysburg to Golan,” published earlier this month.

 

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[Draggingtree]

Yom Kippur 5776 – Gmar Hatima Tova!

Posted on 22 September 2015

 

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is upon us once again, beginning in a few hours time here in Israel, when we will be entering a 25-hour fast with day-long prayer services, composed of beautiful, spiritual and emotional prayers and songs, being held in shuls and community centers throughout the Jewish world. It is a day when we must ask forgiveness from our fellow man if we have wronged them, forgive those who have wronged us if they ask to be forgiven, and pray that Hashem will seal us in the Book of Life.

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