Blow to brand Israel, and to peace accords

Israel has a strong brand. A state-of-the-art country created by pioneers out of the desert. A Jewish homeland where the wretched and the persecuted of the earth have found safe haven. A people determined not to let history repeat itself, ready to defend themselves against enemies who would rather throw them into the sea. Ruthless border security, top-class surveillance systems, the last word in intelligence gathering, pre-emptive strikes, political assassinations, daring rescues, all that and more goes into the strange alchemy of the Israeli brand.

It was that brand that suffered a devastating blow on the morning of Simchat Torah, one of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar, when observant Jews complete the annual reading of that chapter of the Torah and spend the day in prayer and reflection. Fifty years ago, almost to the day, on the holy day of Yom Kippur, a coalition of Arab armies led by Egypt and Syria had surprised the Israeli forces. But that had been a war between uniformed units.