Ariel Sharon - Biography Chapters

1967 – 1970 Defense strategy along the border with Egypt

During these years, a professional conflict is taking place between Ariel Sharon and Chief of Staff Chaim Bar Lev, as to the appropriate strategy to defend the Suez Canal. Bar Lev is for establishing Israeli control over the eastern embankment of the Canal by building a series of manned strongholds, which is later named the Bar Lev Line.

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Sharon, unlike Bar Lev, believes that the best way to defend the area is by mobile armored forces which would respond to any attempt by the Egyptians to cross the Canal. The dispute is heightened during the War of Attrition, which claims the lives of many Israeli soldiers guarding the Bar Lev line. Sharon is now certain that Bar Lev is wrong, and the disagreement becomes a heated personal debate. At the height of the War of Attrition, Chief of Staff Chaim Bar Lev holds a meeting in the General Headquarters. In this meeting, which is meant to be dedicated to ways of responding to the Egyptian aggression, a number of Generals, among them David Elazar (Dado), attack Sharon for the personnel accusations he makes against Chief of Staff and other Generals and for the bad atmosphere he creates. At a certain point, Sharon stands up and leaves the meeting. A short while later, Chief of Staff Bar Lev removes Sharon from his office as Head of Training Department and Sharon takes a leave from the army. A few days later, Sharon apologizes for his conduct and Bar Lev appoints him Head of the Southern Command.

In his capacity as Head of the Southern Command, Sharon – under instructions from Bar Lev – reinforces the series of Israeli strongholds along the eastern embankment of the Suez Canal. He paves roads which facilitate movement for tanks in the region. Sharon is also conducting the last stages of the War of Attrition against the Egyptians: the shelling of Egyptian cities along the Canal, incursions deep into enemy territory, and air battles. Sharon often meets commanders in the field along the Suez Canal. They discuss ways of how to handle the Egyptian assaults and Sharon encourages them to come up with their own original ideas. On August 1970, a cease fire is announced along the Suez Canal.

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