The area of the Golan Heights has already been described in the previous chapter on the Six Day War. Five main routes ascended to the Heights from Israel at the ‘Green Line’, the original 1949 armistice line which runs along the Jordan and the east bank of the Sea of Galilee. They are, from north to south: the road from Kibbutz Dan to Mas’ada and Mount Hermon; the road from Gonen to Wasset; the main road to Damascus crossing the Bnot Ya’akov Bridge to Kuneitra; the Yehudia road ascending from the so-called ‘Arik Bridge’ across the Jordan where it enters the Sea of Galilee; and the Gamla Rise and El A1 route ascending from the Sea of Galilee. Two roads of importance traverse the Golan Heights from north to south. The first is the road running along the so-called ‘Purple Line’, the 1967 cease-fire line; the second is the maintenance road, known as the ‘Tapline Road’ which runs alongside the oil Tapline, which originates in Saudi Arabia, crosses the Golan Heights and continues to the Mediterranean Sea via Lebanon.
The Syrian forces manning the Golan Heights were composed, from north to south, of the 7th Infantry Division (which included Moroccan troops), commanded by Brigadier-General Omar Abrash, the 9th Infantry Division, commanded by Colonel Hassan Tourmkmani, and the 5th Infantry Division, commanded by Brigadier-General Ali Aslan. Each was organized on Soviet lines, with an armoured brigade (in addition to other armoured elements in the division) giving a total of some 130-200 tanks per division. Behind these forward infantry divisions were concentrated the 1st and 3rd Armoured Divisions, commanded respectively by Colonel Tewfiq Jehani and Brigadier-General Mustafa Sharba, each with approximately 250 tanks and some independent brigades. The total Syrian force facing Israel numbered approximately 1,500 tanks supported by some 1,000 guns, including heavy mortars and a surface-to-air missile system protecting Damascus. The Syrian tanks were of the Russian T-55 and T-62 models, the latter being the most modern Russian tank in operation at the time, mounting a 115mm smooth-bore gun.
Against these forces were ranged two Israeli armoured brigades, the 7th in the northern sector and 188 Brigade in the southern sector, disposing of a total of approximately 170 tanks and some 60 artillery pieces. The Israeli armoured forces disposed of United States type M60 tanks and British Centurions. The northern sector, in which the 7th Brigade was deployed, was the responsibility of a divisional headquarters commanded by Major-General ‘Raful’ Eitan, based on Nafekh. Along the 45-mile front-line, there were seventeen Israeli fortifications — well-defended lookout posts.
Each manned by approximately twenty men and supported by a platoon of three tanks — behind anti-tank ditches.
The Syrian plan was to mount a major breakthrough attempt in the north by the 7th Infantry Division supported by elements of the 3rd Armoured Division; the main thrust, however, was to be farther south in
Deployment of Forces, 14.00 hours, Saturday 6 October 1973
The area of the Rafid Opening. This was to be carried out by the 5th Infantry Division, the 9th Infantry Division, the 1st Armoured Division and elements of the 3rd Armoured Division, all concentrated against 188 Brigade which could field but 57 tanks. The Syrian plan called for the occupation of the whole of the Golan Heights by the evening of Sunday 7 October, followed by a reorganization in the area along the River Jordan on Israeli soil in preparation for a further breakthrough into Galilee.
Major-General Yitzhak Hofi, commanding Israel’s Northern Command, had been concerned for some time about the growing Syrian concentration of armoured forces. He had expressed his concern to the Minister of Defence, Moshe Dayan, and authorization had been given for units of the 7th Armoured Brigade, which were being held in GHQ Reserve in the southern part of Israel, to move up to the Golan Heights. This move increased the number of Israeli tanks on the Golan Heights from an initial number of some 60 to 170.
World History
