Third: the War of Attrition

• War of Attrition: the name given by President Nasser to the military operations between the Egyptian forces and the Israeli enemy east of the Suez Canal; it lasted three years.
• Definition: an intermittent war designed to exhaust the enemy and drain his resources.

The political leadership's aims after 1967

• rebuilding the armed forces;
• restoring the soldiers' confidence in themselves and in their commanders;
• retraining the troops and reorganising the units.
• Then came the phase of steadfastness, followed by the War of Attrition.

Its results

• It inflicted heavy losses on the Israeli fortifications, weapons and personnel.
• Military experts hold that it paved the way for the October victory: between June 1967 and October 1973 the Egyptian command rebuilt the army on scientific foundations and erected the missile wall.
• Among its most famous martyrs is Field Marshal Abdel Monem Riad.