Warmakers: Kissinger, Nixon, and The American Conspiracy Behind the 1973 Arab-Israeli War

A historical account of the American conspiracy to instigate the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the shaping of the modern Middle East in its wake.

For eighteen days in October of 1973, the Middle East was mired in a bloody and gruesome war between Egypt, Syria, and the State of Israel. The conflict, which began in a surprise attack during the Jewish holy Day of Atonement, rattled the status quo in the Middle East and eventually led to the 1978 Camp David Accords – an accomplishment that pushed both Egypt and Israel further into America’s sphere of influence than ever before.

Warmakers follows the international leaders and diplomats who acted behind the scenes to ensure the war would fit their political needs: then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and President Richard Nixon, driven by their own ambitions and fear of a strong Soviet presence in the area; then-Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, still riding the coattails of the successful Six-Day War; and then-Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, caught between two global superpowers, as well as opponents both domestic and abroad.

In his lively and riveting narrative account, Greenbaum brings forth previously undisclosed conversations, documents, and strategic information from every side of the conflict. He reveals the global interests that instigated the war, arguing that Kissinger offered Sadat a swift military victory to pave the way for an eventual peace accord. Greenbaum shows how Dayan was not only aware but fully agreed to an Egyptian advance beyond the Suez Canal – without the approval or knowledge of his own government. Highlighting the real motives and blunders that sparked the Yom Kippur War, Greenbaum debunks the common misconception of an Israeli “intelligence failure” and creates an original, brilliant analysis that confronts, for the first time in history, the American involvement that inspired the most impactful war in the Middle East.