Was the 1973 war inevitable?

The article examines whether the 1973 war was inevitable. It rejects the claim that the war was a ‘war of choice’ that could have been prevented had Golda Meir accepted Egyptian peace proposals in 1971 and 1973. Using mainly American and Egyptian sources, this article proves that Egypt never offered a genuine peace proposal, but rather sought to save the huge casualties involved in crossing the Suez Canal on the first occasion and presented an ultimatum for complete Israeli withdrawal in exchange for a ‘state of non-belligerency’ on the second occasion. The war was necessary to bring the parties down from their extreme positions and enable a gradual peace process that eventually led to the Camp David Accords.