Who was the Prime Minister of Israel during the Yom Kippur War?

Golda Meir was Israel’s prime minister during the Yom Kippur War.

Meir served as prime minister from 1969 to 1974, so she was the head of Israel’s government when Egypt and Syria launched their surprise attack on 6 October 1973. The war began on Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day, while it also coincided with Ramadan.

The conflict initially caught Israel off guard. Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal into the Sinai Peninsula, while Syrian forces attacked the Golan Heights. Meir rejected a pre-emptive Israeli strike shortly before the fighting began, partly because she feared Israel would lose crucial American diplomatic and military support if it appeared to start the war.

A common mix-up is Yitzhak Rabin, who became prime minister after Meir resigned in 1974. Menachem Begin was prime minister later, when Israel signed its peace treaty with Egypt in 1979. Meir’s government survived the war politically for only a short time, and she resigned amid public criticism over Israel’s lack of preparedness.