Yom Kippur War: Lessons for Ukraine & Biden

Fifty years ago today, Syrian and Egyptian forces, armed by the Soviet Union, led a massive surprise invasion of Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. As Syrian tanks rolled into the Golan Heights and tens of thousands of Egyptian soldiers poured across the Suez Canal, it looked as if the Jewish State might be wiped off the map. Moshe Dayan, the legendary Israeli general then serving as minister of defense, openly expressed fear that the “Third Temple” would fall. In that time of maximum peril, Israeli prime minister Golda Meir turned to President Richard Nixon for help.

The Nixon White House was besieged by the twin scandals of Watergate and the impending resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew. Yet even nearing his political nadir, President Nixon reacted decisively to arm America’s ally and destroy the armies of its enemy. Unlike Joe Biden’s too-little-too-late strategy in Ukraine, Richard Nixon’s strategy brought victory and peace at a comparatively small price.

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Tom Cotton

Tom Cotton represents Arkansas in the U.S. Senate.

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Fifty years ago today, Syrian and Egyptian forces, armed by the Soviet Union, led a massive surprise invasion of Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. As Syrian tanks rolled into the Golan Heights and tens of thousands of Egyptian soldiers poured across the Suez Canal, it looked as if the Jewish State might be wiped off the map. Moshe Dayan, the legendary Israeli general then serving as minister of defense, openly expressed fear that the “Third Temple” would fall. In that time of maximum peril, Israeli prime minister Golda Meir turned to President Richard Nixon for help.

The Nixon White House was besieged by the twin scandals of Watergate and the impending resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew. Yet even nearing his political nadir, President Nixon reacted decisively to arm America’s ally and destroy the armies of its enemy. Unlike Joe Biden’s too-little-too-late strategy in Ukraine, Richard Nixon’s strategy brought victory and peace at a comparatively small price.