oatmeal#Egypt / Israeli Education Ministry revises curriculum to erase Egypt's peace overtures before October War (1973)
Israel's Ministry of Education has directed teachers to stop teaching that the October War was partly due to #Israel's rejection of Egyptian peace initiatives. The new curriculum, based on recent research, asserts that the war was solely Egypt's responsibility due to its demand for full Israeli withdrawal from Sinai and other occupied territories.
The directive dismisses the historical perspective that Israel ignored peace overtures from Egypt, a view supported by some historians who argue that Egyptian President Sadat sought peace negotiations as early as 1971, but was rebuffed by Israel. Critics argue this curriculum change is a politically motivated revision of history, ignoring evidence of Egypt's willingness to negotiate and placing sole blame for the war on Egypt.
[…] The Israeli Ministry of Education is portraying its new version of Yom Kippur War history as fact, based on historian [right winger] Yoav Gelber's research. However, this is a highly contested issue among historians, with many offering different interpretations. In contrast to the Ministry's view, journalist Amir Oren argues Israel and Prime Minister Golda Meir bear responsibility for not preventing the war. Oren considers it a "war of choice," stating Egyptian President Sadat sought peace with Israel since 1971 but was ignored due to Israel's refusal to withdraw from Sinai and parts of the West Bank for peace, as Oren wrote in a 2014 Haaretz article.
[…] Newly disclosed primary sources, including a 2023 Mossad publication commemorating the October War's 50th anniversary, indicate that Egypt considered diplomatic solutions before the conflict. According to the Mossad's account, while skeptical of diplomacy alone to reclaim territories lost in the Six-Day War, President Sadat initially explored political avenues. Intelligence from Ashraf Marwan, an Egyptian agent that Israel operated, revealed Sadat's communications with Soviet leaders in 1971, expressing Egypt's readiness for a settlement. However, facing political stagnation and fearing the entrenchment of the occupation, Egypt ultimately resorted to military action to break the deadlock.
[…] According to the instruction of the Inspectorate for History Studies, which will come into effect next school year, from now on "answers will not be accepted in the matriculation exams according to which Israel rejected Egyptian peace proposals before the outbreak of the war."
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