Intelligence Failure and Surprise Attack

Summary

Uri Bar-Joseph (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the intelligence failure of the Yom Kippur War. Uri is an author and professor emeritus at Haifa University. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• How Israel failed to predict the Yom Kippur War
• Egyptian spy Ashraf Marwan’s role in the War
• How Israeli intelligence evolved post-War
• Israeli leadership’s accountability for the failure

Reflections

• Learning and adapting from mistakes
• Catastrophe and national trauma

And much, much more …

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

*SpyCasts*

• Israeli Military Intelligence with IDF Brig. General (Res.) Yossi Kuperwasser (2023) 
• POW’s, Vietnam and Intelligence with Pritzker Curator James Brundage (2022)
• The CIA and the 9/11 Commission Report – A Conversation with Alexis Albion (2021)
• Pearl Harbor at 75: An Interview with Steve Twomey (2016)

*Beginner Resources*

• Yom Kippur, Encyclopedia Brittanica (2023) [Short Article] 
• Intelligence Failure: What, When, Why and How, A. Clark, Grey Dynamics (2023) [Article]
• Yom Kippur War, Pritzker Military Museum and Library, YouTube (2022) [3 min. video] 

DEEPER DIVE

Books

• Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle East, U. Kaufman (St. Martin Press, 2023)
• THE ANGEL: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel, U. Bar-Joseph (Harper Publishing, 2017)
• The Watchmen Fell Asleep: The Surprise of Yom Kippur and Its Sources, U. Bar-Joseph (State University of New York Press, 2005) 
• The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East, A. Rabinovich (Shocken, 2004)

Primary Sources 

• Agranat Commission of Inquiry Interim Report, Center for Israeli Education (1974) 
• Israel-Egypt Separation of Forces Agreement, Center for Israeli Education (1974)
• Intelligence Memorandum: The Israeli Primary Elections (1973)
• United Nations Resolution 338 (1973)
• Response to U.S. Appeal for a Ceasefire (1973)
• Transcript of Secret Talks between Egyptian National Security Adviser Hafez Ismail and US National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, Center for Israeli Education, Center for Israeli Education (1973)
• Commemoration of IDF Casualties and Congratulations on Victory in Battle (1967)

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