This is a caricature that was included in an explanatory leaflet for soldiers on October 26 1973, three weeks after the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War and two days after the UN-brokered ceasefire. The leaflet was published by the IDF’s chief education officer, and it explains the geopolitical situation of Israel and its neighbouring countries following the war. The page describes Egypt’s violation of the ceasefire, and it uses a cartoon to depict the Egyptian’s precarious situation.
The caricature was drawn by Dosh (the nickname of famous cartoonist Kariel Gardosh) and shows Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian president, drowning in a boiling pot upon which the words “the results of the war” are written while firing his rifle in the air. Above the caricature Sadat is quoted as saying: "How do we get out of this?!" The cartoon hints at the inferior military situation in which the Egyptians found themselves after the war with Israel encamped to the west of the Suez Canal, circling the Third Egyptian Army.
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The Yom Kippur War - The Yom Kippur War began on October 6, 1973 when Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on its most holy day, hoping to win back areas they had lost in 1967. Taking Israel by surprise, Egypt attacked the Sinai Peninsula and Syria threatened the Golan Heights. Egypt attempted to cross the Suez Canal and reclaim the Sinai Peninsula. This war is considered Israel’s most devastating due to the number of fallen and wounded soldiers, the IDF’s unpreparedness, and the many mistakes in battle. However, this leaflet shows that within a short period of time Israel had managed to turn things around and defeat the attacking armies. The war ended with an official ceasefire on October 24, though there were still battles of attrition until the disengagement agreement was signed in January 1974.
Kariel Gardosh (Dosh) – Kariel Gardosh, nicknamed Dosh was a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Israel in 1948. He joined the staff of the newspaper Ma'ariv in 1953 and was to become one of Israel's most important social critics and political cartoonists. In 1956, Dosh created the character of Srulik who became the symbol of the Sabras and the State of Israel. The National Library holds the Gardosh archive, which includes thousands of cartoons that trace the life of the country for Israel's first fifty years of existence.