Al-Sadat is the crying wolf, clown and character in Opera Aida
Part of the reason for Israeli complacency on the eve of the war was due to Arab political and military deception. Egyptian President Anwar Al-Sadat (he had replaced Nasser after his death in 1970) frequently and publicly declared his intention to attack Israel. He called 1971 "the Year of Decision" - but 1971 came and went and Sadat did not attack. In 1972 he continued to make threats of his aggressive intentions towards Israel. By 1973 Sadat had become, in the minds of Israeli Intelligence, "a case of crying wolf." click here for the site.
Hamdy Al-Konaisy the military correspondent said in his book Al–Toofan ( The Flood ), "I’m wondering of his patience, meaning Al-Sadat, if you read the 6th, 7th and 8th edition of The Guardian newspaper in 1973, for David Hirst who said in his articles " Al-Sadat is a small clown, and we should not care for his declaration about war against Israel".
The American Secretary of State Kissinger at that time said in a documentary film "Fifty years of Arab-Israelis conflict" which was translated by M. B. C. the arabic broadcasting station "My opinion was that Al-Sadat similar to a character in Opera Aida, I did not care for what he was saying and I didn't take his declarations about war seriously. Frankly, I thought he was bluffing".
Source: October War 1973, second edition 1998. General Mohamed Abd Al-Ghany Al-Gamasy chief of operations of Egyptian Army during the war. 