Speaking at the official memorial ceremony at Mt. Herzl today for the soldiers who fell during the Yom Kippur War, Prime Minister Sharon said that our main lesson from that war must be that we must insist that our \"peace partners\" fulfill their agreements with us. \"The terrible strike that befell us,\" he said, \"and from which we have still not totally recovered, did not begin on Yom Kippur 28 years ago, but mainly from something that happened three years earlier. When the ceasefire was announced, after the [1968-1970] War of Attrition, that very night the Egyptians moved forward their Soviet array of [anti-aircraft] missiles [close to the Suez Canal, and began building new missile sites there]. And Israel, tired after 1000 days of fighting along the Canal, did not respond to the violation. This violation, and the lack of Israeli response, was very instrumental in Egypt\'s early gains during the Yom Kippur War. [We won the war, but] the lesson is that we must insist on the fulfillment of agreements, and this is the only way to reach peace.\"
Then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan said in 1970, upon noting the Egyptian violation, that the U.S. had earlier promised Israel that if the Egyptians moved up their missiles, the U.S. would pressure the Egyptians to pull them back - but, in the event, the U.S. explained that they could not pressure Egypt. Dayan also said that it was those very anti-aircraft missiles that ultimately provided invading Egyptian forces protection from the Israeli Air Force at the opening of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Political analyst Dr. Aaron Lerner notes that Sharon implied that \"the Labor Government that ruled the country during that period is responsible for taking a cavalier attitude towards the Egyptian violation of the cease-fire,\" and that Foreign Minister Peres, \"who comes from that same Labor Party, should recognize the danger of taking a cavalier attitude towards Palestinian compliance.\" In addition, Lerner noted that the United States contributed to the Yom Kippur War by deliberately turning its back on the Egyptian violation and refusing to act on it.
Then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan said in 1970, upon noting the Egyptian violation, that the U.S. had earlier promised Israel that if the Egyptians moved up their missiles, the U.S. would pressure the Egyptians to pull them back - but, in the event, the U.S. explained that they could not pressure Egypt. Dayan also said that it was those very anti-aircraft missiles that ultimately provided invading Egyptian forces protection from the Israeli Air Force at the opening of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Political analyst Dr. Aaron Lerner notes that Sharon implied that \"the Labor Government that ruled the country during that period is responsible for taking a cavalier attitude towards the Egyptian violation of the cease-fire,\" and that Foreign Minister Peres, \"who comes from that same Labor Party, should recognize the danger of taking a cavalier attitude towards Palestinian compliance.\" In addition, Lerner noted that the United States contributed to the Yom Kippur War by deliberately turning its back on the Egyptian violation and refusing to act on it.