In military terms, Israel may have won the Yom Kippur War, but it was a costly victory

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IDF Brass Shaken Out

In military terms, Israel may have won the Yom Kippur War, but it was a costly victory. While Israel held on to its 1967 territorial gains, and even added some terrain on the Golan, the IDF lost 2,691 soldiers in battle, with 5,500 wounded.

Stunned by its early setbacks, the government empowered a national commission of inquiry known as the Agranat Commission to examine Israel’s failings, after which heads rolled. Led by High Court President Shimon Agranat, the commission recommended dismissing four top IDF intelligence heads found to be complacent. The commission found IDF Chief of Staff David Elazar to be responsible for Israel’s lack of preparedness. Elazar resigned on his own.

While Golda Meir’s Alignment party maintained its grip on power in the first election after the war in December 1973, her government fell nine days after the Agranat Commission published its report in April 1974, ending a long period of political continuity.