The second Yom Kippur since the fateful Day of Atonement in October, 1973, passed peacefully in Israel with hardly an incident to mar the quiet along the heavily patrolled borders. But memories of that Yom Kippur two years ago were fresh.
A lone military truck roaring down a Jerusalem street otherwise empty of traffic yesterday caused a shudder among all who heard it. For it was on just such a clear, mild Yom Kippur 24 months ago that the sudden appearance of military trucks with headlights blazing at midday, gave Israelis their first inkling of trouble–the beginning of a war that in three weeks was to take the lives of 2854 of their fellows and alter the nation’s history.
Memorial prayers were offered yesterday for the Yom Kippur War dead and the fallen of other wars. Synagogues were packed. But in the outlying border towns, villages and kibbutzim and in many other communities considered likely targets for terrorist attack, worshippers wore prayer shawls on their heads and M-1 rifles slung over their shoulders.
PATROLS OUT IN FORCE
The Western Wall was heavily visited and many of the devout were forced to sit on the ground for lack of benches. About two dozen men slept overnight at the Wall and others remained awake reciting psalms and Talmudic tracts.
Army units, border police and civil guards had little time for worship. Patrols were out in force, especially along the northern borders. The only incident occurred Sunday when small arms fire was directed against an Israeli patrol on the Lebanese border. No casualties were reported. Security circles credited the preventive measures of the previous week which included air strikes at terrorist strongholds in Lebanon, with foiling terrorist plans to attack targets in Israel on Yom Kippur.
ARMY REGAINED DETERRENT POWER
Addressing the nation on television last night, Chief of Staff Gen, Mordechai Gur said the army had regained its deterrent power since Yom Kippur, 1973. He said that was of prime importance at a time when some Arab governments seem to be leaning toward a political settlement and could only encourage them in that direction. But Gur warned Israelis not to exaggerate the value of deterrence. The possibility of surprise attack cannot be discounted, he said, However, steps have been taken to analyze and interpret the enemy’s moves and sufficient forces are available to meet any contingency, Gur said.
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