Kippur War Research Articles

Low levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms and psychiatric symptomatology among third-generation Holocaust survivors whose fathers were war veterans

There is an ongoing debate regarding the intergenerational transmission of Holocaust trauma to the third generation (TGH). However, due to the rareness of this population, there are no studies that have examined TGH individuals whose fathers were also victims of war-related trauma and captivity. This prospective study aimed to assess the role of parents' Holocaust background, fathers' posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and adult offspring's anxiety sensitivity (AS) in adult offspring's PTSS and psychiatric symptomatology. A sample of 123 Israeli father-child dyads (42 TGH and 71 non-TGH), that included 80 former prisoners of war (ex-POWs) dyads and a comparison group of 44 veteran dyads, completed AS, PTSS and psychiatric symptomatology self-report measures. Fathers were assessed 17 years following the Yom Kippur War (T1: 2008) while offspring took part in T2 (2013–2014). Surprisingly, results show that TGH participants reported lower levels of PTSS and psychiatric symptomatology than non-TGH participants, regardless of their fathers' captivity status. Interestingly, a moderated mediation analysis indicated that offspring's AS mediated the association between Holocaust background and participants' PTSS and psychiatric symptomatology, only among ex-POWs' offspring. This study provides evidence for relatively lower levels of PTSS and psychiatric symptomatology among TGH individuals whose fathers were war veterans. Ex-POWs' adult offspring who are grandchildren of Holocaust survivors reported lower levels of AS that was related to lower levels of PTSS and psychiatric symptomatology.

Ethiopia in Swedish Press During the Italo-Ethiopian Conflict 1934-36: A Research Proposal

In 1935, Fascist Italy invaded independent Ethiopia, a member of the League of Nations. To a small and neutral country like Sweden, without a direct colonial heritage and largely isolated from the affairs of the colonized world, the war served as a touchstone for the quality of the League and received extensive attention in the press. It gave rise to great indignation in public opinion, further spurred by Swedish citizens’ half a century history of involvement in the Ethiopian modernizing project. Swedish sympathies for the Ethiopians developed to an extent which hitherto had not existed with regard to any other African or Asian people, long before the anti-colonial movements of the 1960s. The objective of the planned research project is to demonstrate that the Italo-Ethiopian conflict and identification with Ethiopia brought Sweden into a new, international and global community and thereby contributed to a self-image of Sweden as a modern and democratic society, as reflected in the formation of public opinion. This will be done by analysing the image of Swedish-Ethiopian relations in the press during the conflict. The present article is limited to giving an outline of a research proposal, seen against the backdrop of the massive popular manifestations in Sweden in the late summer of 1935, immediately before the outbreak of the war in October. The source material, the Swedish press, is remarkably rich and hitherto not used in research. Instead of a state-centred perspective, the article emphasises that the conflict animated a plurality of networks, contributing to the rise of an anti-colonial public opinion in the Swedish press. The conflict brought Sweden closer to world events and introduced to Swedish readers a debate about the colonial world order. At the same time there was an intensified production and reproduction of new knowledge: Ethiopia came much closer. In September, one month before the war broke out; Swedish cities saw some of the largest demonstrations in modern Swedish history against war, fascism and in support of Ethiopia.

Attachment security and pain — The disrupting effect of captivity and PTSS

The present study assesses the possible disruption effect of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) with regard to the protective role of attachment on pain, among ex-POWs. While secure attachment seems to serve as a buffer, decreasing the perception of pain, this function may be disrupted by PTSS. The study sample included 104 subjects who were combat veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur War comprising of 60 male ex-prisoners of war (ex-POWs) and 44 comparable male combat veterans. Both attachment and pain were investigated experimentally in the laboratory and via questionnaires. We found that ex-POWs showed higher levels of clinical pain and attachment insecurities compared to controls. Moreover, attachment avoidance and soothing effect of attachment (SEA) were both associated with lower levels of clinical pain. Most importantly, PTSS moderated the associations between attachment and pain, as well as the mediation role of attachment between captivity and pain. The results imply that although attachment can be an important resource for coping with pain, it can be severely disrupted by PTSS among trauma survivors.

The role of fathers' psychopathology in the intergenerational transmission of captivity trauma: A twenty three-year longitudinal study

BackgroundThe aversive impact of combat and parents' combat-induced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on young children has been examined in a few studies. However, the long-term toll of war captivity on the secondary traumatization (ST) of adult offspring remains unknown. This study aimed to assess the longitudinal associations between former prisoners of war (ex-POWs), PTSD, depressive symptoms and their adult offsprings ST.Method: A sample of 134 Israeli father-child dyads (80 ex-POWs dyads and a comparison group of 44 veterans'dyads) completed self-report measures. The fathers participated in three waves of measurements following the Yom Kippur War (T1: 1991, T2: 2003, and T3: 2008), while the offspring took part in T4 (2013). ResultsOffspring of ex-POWs with PTSD at T3 reported more ST symptoms than offspring of ex-POWs without PTSD and controls. Ex-POWs' PTSD hyper-arousal symptom cluster at T3 was positively related to offsprings ST avoidance symptom cluster. Offspring of ex-POWs with chronic and delayed PTSD trajectories reported more ST symptoms than offspring of ex-POWS and controls with resilient trajectories. Ex-POWs' PTSD and depression symptoms at T1, T2 and T3 mediated the link between war captivity (groups) and offsprings ST in T4. LimitationsThe use of self-report measures that did not cover the entire span of 40 years since the war, might may bias the results. ConclusionsThe intergenerational transmission of captivity related trauma following the Yom Kippur War was exemplified. ST symptoms among ex-POWs' adult offspring are closely related to their father' PTSD and related depressive symptom comorbidity.

Somatic Complaints and Attachment in Former Prisoners of War: A Longitudinal Study

Objective: War captivity includes a unique constellation of simultaneous somatic and interpersonal assaults. This raises questions about the link between attachment and somatic complaints among ex–prisoners of war (ex-POWs). Although the attachment literature assumes that attachment affects somatic complaints and not vice versa, to date no empirical studies assess the association between the two variables over time. In this article we prospectively examine the association between attachment and somatic complaints over time among ex-POWs and comparable veterans. Method: The current study included two groups of male Israeli veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur War: ex-POWs and comparable veterans who were not taken captive. Both groups were assessed via self-report measures at three times: T1 (1991), T2 (2003), and T3 (2008)—18, 30, and 35 years after the war, respectively. Results: Ex-POWs reported higher levels of somatic complaints and attachment insecurities. These levels increased over time compared to combatant veterans. Moreover, while there was a unidirectional influence of somatic complaints on attachment security over time among combatant veterans, this relationship was bidirectional among ex-POWs. Conclusions: The present study suggests that the combined physical and interpersonal assaults experienced during captivity have adverse effects on combatants and on attachment security, even three decades later. More important, in ex-POWs the relationship between these domains appears to be interactive and mutual, with one reinforcing the other, and vice versa.

Posttraumatic growth among spouses of combat veterans: Adaptive or maladaptive for adjustment?

We examined the relationship between posttraumatic growth (PTG) and distress in spouses of trauma survivors. A sample of spouses of combat veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur War were assessed using questionnaires pertaining to PTG, depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress, in 2004 and 2011. Applying cross-lagged modeling strategy, higher PTG levels predicted higher depression and anxiety levels above and beyond initial distress. Thus, psychological growth in spouses of survivors appears to signify subsequent distress.

Dealing with Uncertainty in Strategic Decision-making

ABSTRACT: Strategic uncertainty is the disparity between what one knows, and what one needs to know in order to make a responsible decision; it permeates defense decision-making. Because of strategic uncertainty, planners must maximize the robustness against surprise in striving to achieve critical goals. This article describes the decision methodology known as robust-satisfying and the integration of this method with other military decision-making processes. ********** Flipping a fair coin has equal chance of getting heads or tails. Rolling a balanced dice has equal probabilities for each of six A known outcomes. But if we take this into the realm of strategic decision-making and consider the 2002 assessment of Iraqi capability with Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), how many outcomes should we ponder: what are they and what are their likelihoods? One might say the answer is binary: Either they do or they do not have WMD. Or, perhaps we should consider multiple possibilities: They have small (or large) quantities, they are (or are not) developing more, and they intend to use it (or not). It is as though we are rolling dice without knowing how many faces each die has, and whether or not each is balanced for equal probabilities of all outcomes. This is essentially the problem every strategist faces, and the one this article proposes to address. We often are justified in thinking probabilistically and in saying something is very likely. For example, Stalin's military advisers in 1941 claimed a German invasion of the Soviet Union was very likely. The advisers had reconnaissance evidence, captured documents, and more. (1) Most analysts (though not Stalin) readily acknowledged the complementary assertion--Germany is not about to invade Russia--was very unlikely. In binary logic, an assertion is either true or false. If we know an assertion is true, then we know the negation of that assertion is false. There is an in binary logic. The excluded middle rules out the possibility an assertion is both true and false. Probabilistic thinking is an extension--to the domain of uncertainty--of the binary thinking of pure logic: If we know an assertion is highly probable, then we know the negation of that assertion is highly unlikely. An assertion and its negation cannot both be highly when using probabilistic reasoning. In strategic affairs, we often do not know enough about the situation to exclude the middle as we routinely do in binary logic and in probabilistic thinking. The British during World War II could have viewed the assertion that Germany was trying to build an atomic bomb as likely (indeed they were). Otto Hahn, who was a war-time professor in Berlin, had visited Enrico Fermi during the latter's experiments with uranium in the 1930s, and Hahn won the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (awarded in 1945) for his discovery of fission of heavy nuclei. (2) But one could argue the Nazis abjured Jewish physics, such as relativity and quantum theory, and therefore it is unlikely Germany would try to exploit this physics in order to build an atom bomb. Indeed, the Nazis never pursued nuclear weapons as enthusiastically as the Allies. If one needs to say an assertion is both quite and quite unlikely, one must abandon the binary structure of probability. This need arises quite often in strategic affairs. One reason is conflicting intelligence reports are common, as the Prussian military thinker Carl von Clausewitz emphasized. (3) Another reason is we often are unaware of, or do not understand, new doctrinal or technological possibilities. For instance, the possibility and implications of massive infantry use of hand-held Sagger anti-tank ordnance surprised the Israelis in the Yom Kippur War, despite their experiences with similar missiles both as users and as targets. (4) Furthermore, prediction is always difficult, especially in war. …

The War Memoirs of Rachel Maccabi

In her article The War Memoirs of Rachel Ilana Rosen analyzes the memoirs of Rachel Maccabi (1915-2003) about her sacrifices to fulfill the Zionist creed. Raised in a well-off Zionist family, Maccabi moved to Israel/Palestine in the mid-1930s, served in the Haganah pre-State military organization, and later became an army officer. Her first husband fell in the 1948 War of Independence and her son in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Between 1964 and 1992 Maccabi published five memoirs. Rosen focuses on Maccabi's last three memoirs, in which she responds to the deaths of her husband and son in Israel's wars with varying degrees of restraint versus disclosure while also criticizing the decline of ideologist, collectivist Zionist values in Israel of the late twentieth century.

Guilt Among Ex-Prisoners of War

The article explores guilt and its correlates among Israeli ex-prisoners of war (ex-POWs) of the 1973 Yom Kippur War (YKW; N = 119) and a matched group of veterans of the same war who were not held captive (N = 97). Results revealed that compared with controls, ex-POWs reported both more posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and more guilt, after adjusting for PTSS. Results also revealed a significant PTSS × Group interaction effect on guilt, wherein the association between PTSS and guilt was stronger among ex-POWs than among controls. Among ex-POWs, results showed that feelings of helplessness when falling captive, inwardly directed active coping, and a sense of loss of control during captivity contributed to the prediction of guilt. Support at homecoming made no contributions to variance, and circumstances of falling into captivity did not predict guilt. Results support the notion that guilt is a significant component of the psychological aftermath of war captivity, and highlight its correlates. Clinical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

The Yom Kippur War: The Successes of Israeli Intelligence

Most of the literature related to Israeli intelligence on the eve of the 1973 Yom Kippur War refers to its failure, mainly because it did not provide an early warning. The flawed intelligence asses...

Kicking the Oil Addiction

Kicking the Oil Addiction

A Longitudinal Study of Secondary Posttraumatic Growth in Wives of Ex-POWs

Objective: The current study aimed to investigate (a) “secondary” posttraumatic growth (PTG) in wives of former prisoners of war (ex-POWs) and its association to husbands’ captivity, husbands’ posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and husbands’ PTSD trajectories; and (b) the bidirectional relationships over time between wives’ posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and PTG. Method: The study compared 116 wives of Israeli ex-POWs from the 1973 Yom Kippur War with 56 wives of a matched control group of non-POW combat veterans. Wives were divided into groups according to husbands’ captivity status, husbands’ PTSD status, and husbands’ PTSD trajectories; and ANOVAs and MANOVAs were conducted to assess group differences in PTSS and PTG, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Autoregressive cross-lag modeling was also used to assess bidirectional relationships between wives’ PTSS and PTG over time. Results: Wives of ex-POWs with PTSD reported significantly higher PTG compared with wives of ex-POWs without PTSD and wives of controls. While PTG and PTSS remained stable over time, importantly, the Time 1 (T1) level of PTG predicted avoidance symptoms at Time 2 (T2); the higher the wives’ PTG at T1, the higher their avoidance symptoms at T2, but not vice versa. Conclusions: These findings support the notion that “secondary PTG” exists. They also strengthen the theory that growth and distress can co-occur. Finally, the finding that PTG predicted subsequent avoidance symptoms suggests that PTG does not prevent the future development of distress.

Combined arms warfare: the Israeli experience in the 1973 Yom Kippur War

Traditional combined arms warfare is premised on the assumption that a symmetrical mix of different kinds of units and weapons offers an army the best prospect of achieving optimal results on the battlefield. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been accused by critics over the years of essentially abandoning the practice of traditional combined arms warfare before the 1973 Yom Kippur War in favor of a nontraditional (asymmetrical) variant that relied much too heavily on tanks and aircraft. While this criticism certainly has substantial merit, the IDF’s reverses in the early days of the war were not due solely to a lack of emphasis on traditional combined arms warfare, but rather also to a “perfect storm” of circumstances that obtained at the outset of hostilities. To its credit, the IDF learned rapidly from its prewar mistakes in force structure and war-fighting doctrine, reverting within days to a traditional approach to the practice of combined arms warfare, at least on the ground. Though not a battlefield panacea by any means, traditional combined arms warfare clearly contributed to the IDF’s eventual victory in the war.

Eagle's-eye View: An American Assessment of the 1973 Yom Kippur War

The United States displayed a keen interest in the nature, progress and results of the Yom Kippur War, because the fighting was thought to reflect how non-nuclear hostilities between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact (WP) would unfold on the plains of central Europe in case war broke out there. In contrast to many observers of the war, who concluded that the losses suffered by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) at the hands of Egyptian and Syrian anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons had rendered the aircraft and the tank largely impotent, thereby revolutionizing how wars would be waged in the future, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analysts and United States Army Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) Command officers, based upon an in-depth review of the nature, progress and results of the fighting, re-affirmed the centrality of these weapons systems on the modern battlefield. Rather than focus obsessively on technological developments, they concluded that training, leadership and tactics were ultimately the decisive elements in the Yom Kippur War.

Crossroads of war: a historical atlas of the Middle East

From the Bronze Age to the twenty-first century, vying armies have clashed over the territory stretching from the Upper Nile to modern-day Iraq and Iran. Crossroads of captures five millennia of conflict and conquest in detailed full-color maps, accompanied by incisive, accessible commentary.The lands of the Middle East were home to a succession of empires Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Persian that rose and declined with the fortunes of battle. Kings and generals renowned in history bestrode the region: Nebuchadnezzar, David, Alexander the Great, Saladin, Napoleon. The religions of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam were born here and from the beginning became embroiled in conflicts ranging from the Maccabean Revolt to Muhammad s Arabian conquests to the Christian Crusades. In the twentieth century, the Middle East witnessed the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and played a role in the grim dramas of two world wars, as T. E. Lawrence helped spark the Arab Revolt and General Bernard Montgomery defeated Hitler s Desert Fox, General Erwin Rommel, at El Alamein.From the Yom Kippur War and Operation Desert Storm to a Global War on Terror that still looms over the twenty-first century, the Middle East continues to be shaped by the vagaries and vicissitudes of military conflict. Crossroads of offers valuable insights into the part of the world that first cradled civilization and then imagined its demise in a final clash of armies at Armageddon.

What Future for the Renewable Energy

In 1973, after the Kippur war, a considerable increase of the petroleum price occurred, because, Arabian countries decided to reduce the extraction and export of this raw material. It was the first time that petroleum price was imposed not by the market but as a consequence of a political unilateral decision. The governments of the occidental countries reacted to this situation by promoting researches on the use of coal as a possible substitute of petroleum. In Italy, for example, a national “Energy” project based on the use of coal had been launched and funded covering a period of about 10 years. Although, after some years the situation turned to the normality and the price of petroleum was consistently lowered rendering not convenient the use of coal, thanks to the performed studies, the scientists have learned to obtain from coal all the necessary components to satisfy the energetic needs. Coal was chosen as a possible alternative for the abundance of this raw material and, because, at that time the consume of petroleum was relatively limited and the environmental problems, deriving from a majestic use of petroleum, were not so important as today. In the last century, the petroleum consumption increased exponentially and the growing economy of the countries under development greatly contributed and still contributes to this increment. Gradually, the anxiety for the depletion of petroleum as raw material, which remedy could be clearly the use of coal, was substituted by the anxiety for the sustainability of the consequences of a continuous increase of the petroleum consumption on both the environment and the quality of the life. Under this aspect, coal is worse than petroleum and cannot be considered as a possible substitute. Sustainability gradually became the cultural driving force for the development of the “Renewable Energy Sources” and new concepts like Bio-Refineries and Renewable Feedstock were diffused in a lot of publications and books and the governments funded many researches on the subject. However, it is opportune to remember that the consume of petroleum in the world is greater than 4 billion tons per year with only 4-5% destined to the chemicals production. The big economic interests, accompanying the commerce of petroleum, hold-down the development of any possible alternative. The recent intensive production of shale oil in United States, for example, has been contrasted by a strong decrease of the petroleum price produced in Arabia. In the meantime, a large availability of petroleum at low cost strongly reduced or blocked the production of bio-based fuels as biodiesel and bio-ethanol. The conclusion is that nowadays, Renewable Energy Sources cannot compete with petroleum for both the volume of production and price of the energy but remain the only feasible alternative if inserted in a revolutionary change of the way of life in which the man look for an equilibrium with the nature without renouncing to the wellness but certainly changing the previous habits. This is, at the same time a cultural, scientific but above all a political challenge to save the planet. Citation: Santacesaria, E. (2015). What future for the Renewable Energy. Trends in Renewable Energy, 1(2), 57-58. DOI: 10.17737/tre.2015.1.2.0010

Secondary growth among former prisoners of war’s adult children: The result of exposure to stress, secondary traumatization, or personality traits?

The long-term toll of war captivity on secondary traumatization (ST) on adult children has recently been exemplified. Several studies have also revealed that indirect exposure to trauma might be accompanied by positive psychological changes. This study examined secondary posttraumatic growth (SG) among adult children of former prisoners of war (ex-POWs' children) who were compared with adult children of comparable veterans (controls' children). Furthermore, we examined the role of five-factor personality traits in the associations between exposure to stress stemming from fathers' behaviors, ST symptoms, and SG. Participants were Israeli ex-POWs' children (N = 98) and controls' children (N = 90), whose fathers fought in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Results show that ex-POWs' children reported higher levels of SG compared with controls' children. ST symptoms were found to mediate the association between research group and SG, and the direct effect was found to be conditioned at the levels of participants' extroversion. Furthermore, among ex-POWs' children, extroversion and openness to the experience personality traits, as well as exposure to stress, were found to predict SG. Forty years after the war ended, the experience of living with ex-POWs is associated with ex-POWs' children SG that might be more related to their exposure to stress and personality traits than their ST symptoms. Clinical interventions aiming to increase the levels of SG among indirect victims of captivity should consider the influence of pretrauma resources, trauma characteristics, and posttrauma factors. (PsycINFO Database Record

Secondary traumatization among ex-POWs' adult children: the mediating role of differentiation of the self.

The aversive impact of combat and parents' combat-induced posttraumatic stress disorder on young children has been examined in a few studies. However, the long-term toll of war captivity on secondary traumatization (ST) and the mediating role of differentiation of the self remain unknown. This study examined ST symptoms and differentiation of the self (DS) among adult children of former prisoners of war (ex-POW's children) who were compared with adult children of comparable veterans (controls' children). Furthermore, I examined the mediating role of DS dimensions in the association between exposure to stress and ST symptoms. Participants were Israeli ex-POW's children (n = 98) and controls' children (n = 90), whose fathers fought in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Results showed that ex-POW's children reported a higher number of ST symptoms and lower levels of emotional cutoff differentiation compared with controls' children. Emotional cutoff was also found to mediate the association between research group and ST symptoms. Among ex-POW's children, emotional cutoff and emotional reactivity dimensions mediated the association between exposure to stress stemming from fathers' behaviors and ST symptoms. Forty years after the war ended, the experience of living with ex-POWs is associated with ex-POW's children ST symptoms.

“Our Declaration Of Independence”: African Americans, Arab Americans, And The Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1967-1979

This article examines the evolution of African-American commentary and activism on the Arab-Israeli conflict from 1967 to 1979. It focuses in particular on the crystallization of a moderate black position that, while continuing to support the existence of a Jewish state in Palestine, increasingly questioned the pro-Israel orientation of U.S. foreign policy. The article argues that the emergence of this perspective reflected a transformation in the politics of the Arab-Israeli dispute, both internationally and within the United States. Following the October War of 1973, the Arab states and the Palestine Liberation Organization, along with Arab-American groups, grew more amenable to an imagined settlement involving Israel’s withdrawal from all of the Arab territory occupied in the 1967 War and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The emergence of this pragmatic position, articulated simultaneously by Arabs and Arab Americans, opened up new political space for African-American moderates, making it possible for them to support Arab and Palestinian claims without opposing Israel’s existence. In the process, Arab Americans began playing more visible roles in national political discourse.

Israel since the Six-Day War: tears of joy, tears of sorrow

Introduction Chapter 1 The Early Aftermath of the Six Day War Chapter 2 The War of Attrition and the Prelude to the Yom Kippur War Chapter 3 The Yom Kippur War Chapter 4 Major Events over the years 1974-1979 Chapter 5 The Decade of the 1980 s Chapter 6 The Fateful 1990 s Chapter 7 The al Aqsa Intifada Chapter 8 Beyond the al-Aqsa Intifada Chapter 9 Social and Economic Developments Conclusion Appendix: General Election Results