Arab-Israeli War of 1973

its 100% true that the americans were replacing every peice of equipment the israeli's lost, and in one case, bombarding arab troops and armor with a super sonic jet.

but i never heard of the soviets helping the arabs.

Sure- some, but not all of the over 20-000 soviet military advisers were expelled but Egypt was still mostly a Soviet client state.  Soviet advisers planned the 'crossing' itself and Soviet resupply was measured as equal to the US resupply of Israel.

In fact- peace was never an Israeli->Egyptian affair- it was a US-Soviet-Israeli-Egyptian affair.

Sadat wanted to end the idea that an Arab-Israeli peace had to be between winners and losers.  he wanted to prove that they could fight on an equal footing and thus gain a 'fair' peace.  Egypt could not possibly do that on its own against a US supplied Israel

The Yom Kippur war was the closest the Arab forces came to defeating Israel. In the Golan Heights, the Syrians were only about a half hour away from breaking through Israeli lines when IDF reinforcements finally arrived and stopped the advance.

In the Sinai, the Egyptians overran most of the Israeli forces on the East bank of the Suez canal and were advancing quickly towards Israel.

Modern weapons supplied by the Soviets as well as training made life very hard for the IDF both on the ground and in the air. Weapons like the SA-6 were responsible for the destruction of 1/4 of the IAF in the air.

On the ground Arab soldiers armed with AT-3 Sagger guided missiles destroyed a large number of Israeli tanks.

The Soviets provided reconnaissance to the Arab forces from satellite photography and the U.S. countered by deploying the SR-71 Blackbird to provide reconnaissance to the Israelis. The Israelis were also supplied by both America and France with replacement aircraft and tanks. 

The IDF was able to mobilize in 48 hours and stopped Arab advances both in the north and south.

It's close to an American point of view but certainly not 'only'.  I'm ready to hear other points of view.

As you well know during the cold war it was basically a must to take sides, not out of ideological conviction but out of neccess�ty. Not even a 'non allied'like Nasser could effectively do without support from one or the other.  

In fact Sadat wanted to 'change sides' but had to find the right excuse. The Yom Kippur War provided the excuse.  Not long after the war Egypt turned into a US client state.  Or is that a radical Islamist only point of view?

1973 Yom Kippur War was definitely not a victory for Israel.If Israel is still there, it is not because of such an imaginative victory in 1973, it is because of Western states' support, plus the wars of 1947-48 and 1967 Six-Day War.

The objective of Egypt in 1973 was not to destroy Israel.  It was Sadats explicit purpose to create a negotiated solution (he wanted a solution for all Arabs but was outmaneuvered during negotiationsd and got a solution only acceptable to Egypt)- eliminate Egypts dependence on the Russians and get Egypt to get on with its life. 

On the other hand-yes Israel survives.

I didn't see anyone calling any Arab victory in the thread...

What you say about Six-Day War is true, definitely a disaster for all Arab world.

Actually, USA didn't need to bomb by using his planes, and she didn't, Israel already had the upper hand in 67 War and destroyed the Arab airforce too early..USA just replaced the tanks of Israel instead, in 73.

The phone call between Nasser and King Hussein is another interesting event. With that call, Nasser had persuaded the king to join the war in his side.

The Yom Kippur War of 73, was definitely not a loss for Arabs, it is better to call it a "draw".

Hosny Mubarak was the commander of Egyptian airforce, not just a pilot

But these wars, really show how important determination is...Check the part from Polish journalist R.Kapuscinski I gave when opening the thread.

Israel's small size is a disadvantage, but they have never come close to losing any war.  The topic of Israel recieving American help keeps coming up.  Its true that they have American assistance.  However, the arab nations recieved assistance from the now defunct Soviet Union during the wars mentioned.  Israel has never lost a war against the arabs and I doubt they ever will.