# What explains the stunning successes of the Six Day and Yom Kippur wars?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-stunning-successes-of-the-six-day-and-yom-kippur-wars/795580>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 5, 2017, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-stunning-successes-of-the-six-day-and-yom-kippur-wars/795580 "2017-09-05T19:02:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-stunning-successes-of-the-six-day-and-yom-kippur-wars/795580/102 "2020-02-28T15:12:16Z")

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> [@Shodan](#):
>
> If Egypt lost the war, Egypt would continue to exist. If Israel lost the war, Israel would not continue to exist. Whether or not the Arabs would try to implement a second Holocaust is almost beside the point.
> 
> Regards,  
> Shodan

That’s another consideration- I think it plays more into why Israeli conscripts performed better than Arab ones- the Israelis were surrounded by hostile neighbors on all sides, and I’d be willing to bet that put a totally different emphasis on compulsory military service and serving in the reserves than in Egypt, Jordan or Syria. Sort of a “doing one’s duty to protect home and hearth” situation than getting shanghaied into the Arab militaries as an enlisted man because you didn’t have the connections to avoid it or be an officer.

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**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-stunning-successes-of-the-six-day-and-yom-kippur-wars/795580/103 "2020-02-28T15:15:42Z")

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> [@bump](#):
>
> That’s another consideration- I think it plays more into why Israeli conscripts performed better than Arab ones- the Israelis were surrounded by hostile neighbors on all sides, and I’d be willing to bet that put a totally different emphasis on compulsory military service and serving in the reserves than in Egypt, Jordan or Syria. Sort of a “doing one’s duty to protect home and hearth” situation than getting shanghaied into the Arab militaries as an enlisted man because you didn’t have the connections to avoid it or be an officer.

I recall reading that generally invaders have much less incentive than defenders. All the invader gains is some territory for his nation , with abstract or no personal benefit. The defender has his back to the wall and risks losing it all.

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**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-stunning-successes-of-the-six-day-and-yom-kippur-wars/795580/104 "2020-03-02T14:37:58Z")

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> [@Velocity](#):
>
> I recall reading that generally invaders have much less incentive than defenders. All the invader gains is some territory for his nation , with abstract or no personal benefit. The defender has his back to the wall and risks losing it all.

That’s true, and generally attackers need a 3:1 advantage to press home a successful attack.

But that’s not quite what I was getting at; what I was trying to say is that youth conscripted into the Israeli military in that era were not likely to consider that as an imposition or something to be avoided or got over with as expeditiously as possible. It was probably considered an important civic duty and something to be taken very seriously, even in peacetime.

Meanwhile, I bet in 1960s Egypt, you did anything you could to avoid being drafted into the military, as it was probably unpleasant, uncomfortable and just generally bad news. So if you DID get drafted, you probably weren’t very motivated to do much of anything that took initiative or that got you noticed at all.

So when the bullets started flying, whose draftees likely fought better?

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