As a neutral who has read many books/sites about the Yom Kippur war, I cannot see how Israel can claim any sort of victory. At best, all they can claim is a draw. Everyone must understand that because both sides were using US/Soviet weapons, the two superpowers would never allow one side to take total victory. Egypt, at worst had a draw and at best a limited victory. Many western books written by Jews claim that "the Israelis pushed the Egyptians back to the west of the canal"- however they know that this is not true. In reality, a small brigade penetrated between the two huge Egyptian armies both of which REMAINED on the east side of the canal. Therefore at the ceasefire, which Israel had violated to try to save face, Egyptian armies had still gained territory. Besides, Sadat's aim was never to march to Tel Aviv- he wanted a limited victory to stun the Israelis into negotiating. He succeeded, the Israelis were stunned- Golda Meir said it was "a disaster, a horrible nightmare". Israeli General Javitch said in 1974 that Israel had "scored no victories". I am increasingly amazed at this new generation of people who forget the "terrible earthquake" (as described by Moshe Dayan) that happened to Israel on October 1973.There are numerous statements from the most senior Israeli leaders and commanders describing the "shock" and "nightmare" suffered. Most recently Israeli President Ezer Weizman stated in a speech at the University of Maryland 1997 that "Sadat inflicted a major blow on Israel" and that "Egypt's forces crossed the Suez canal and at the end of fighting and by the time of the disengagement agreement they remained on the east side of the canal". See for yourselves his full speech on the University of Maryland website. Jewish people should be happy that, although their armed forces suffered heavily, Egypt's military equality following the war paved the way for peaceful negotiation.

Aaron. Birmingham, England.