Bar Lev Line

Strategically, the Bar-Lev line was a blunder -- too lightly manned to be an effective defensive line and too heavily manned to be an expendible tripwire. (The Yom Kippur War, Rabinovich) The $500 million line named after Israeli Chief of Staff Haim Bar-Lev was the longest and strongest forward defense line in the history of warfare. It consisted of earthen rampart and a series of concrete observation posts positioned every 10-12 kilometers along the canal with extra fortifications at the more likely crossing points. The earthen rampart were constructed over a unique water barrier and had an average height of 20 to 22 meters and a 45 degree incline on the side facing the canal. Each post held about 15 men, their primary task was to give warning of an Egyptian attempt to cross the canal and direct artillery fire on them from batteries well in the rear. Behind the canal the Israelis held small armored and artillery units, and further back there were bases at which were stockpiled the weapons and equipment for reserve brigades, which could be mobilized within 24 hours of any attempt to cross the canal. The Israelis expected their artillery and air force to keep any canal crossing force busy until the reserve brigades could get moving towards the canal. The line was divided into 20 strongholds. Some of the names of the strongholds were Tasa, Maftzach, Milano, Mezach, Chizayon, Mifreket, Orcal, Budapest (the largest), Nisan, Lituf, Chashiva. The line was wildly popular with the Israeli public but some generals were very critical of it. During the Yom Kippur War the Egyptians were able to easily overrun the Bar Lev Line due to the element of surprise and overwhelming material superiority. To deal with the massive earthen ramparts the Egyptians used hoses attached to dredging pumps in the canal to pump out powerful jets of water; this enabled them to create 81 breaches in the line and remove three million cubic metres of packed dirt on the first day of the war. Of the 441 men in the sixteen on the Bar-Lev line at the start of the War, 126 were killed, and 161 captured. Only Budapest, in the extreme North near the mediterranian city of Port Said , would hold out for the duration of the war, while all the rest would be overrun.

The Bar Lev Line ( , Kav Bar Lev ; , Khaṭṭ Barlīf ) was a chain of fortifications built by Israel along the eastern coast of the Suez Canal after it captured the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt during the 1967 Six-Day War .

30°31′30″N 32°19′45″E  /  30.52500°N 32.32917°E  / 30.52500; 32.32917 A section of the Bar Lev line The Bar Lev Line ( , Kav Bar Lev ; , Khaṭṭ Barlīf ) was a chain of fortifications built by Israel along the eastern coast of the Suez Canal after it captured the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt during the 1967 Six-Day War .

Chain of fortifications built by Israel 30°31′30″N 32°19′45″E  /  30.52500°N 32.32917°E  / 30.52500; 32.32917 The Bar Lev Line ( , Kav Bar Lev ; , Khaṭṭ Barlīf ) was a chain of fortifications built by Israel along the eastern bank of the Suez Canal after it occupied the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt during the 1967 Six-Day War . It was considered impenetrable by the Israelis until it was overrun during 1973's Operation Badr in less than two hours by the Egyptian military led by Chief of staff Saad El Shazly. The Global Offensive: The United States, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the Making of the Post-Cold War Order . The History of Egypt .

Chain of Israeli fortifications on the Suez Canal 30°31′30″N 32°19′45″E  /  30.52500°N 32.32917°E  / 30.52500; 32.32917 The Bar Lev Line ( Hebrew : קו בר-לב Kav Bar-Lev ; Arabic : خط بارليف Khaṭṭ Barlīf ) was a chain of fortifications built by Israel along the eastern bank of the Suez Canal shortly after the 1967 Arab–Israeli War , during which Egypt lost the entire Sinai Peninsula . It was considered impenetrable by the Israeli military until it was overrun in less than two hours during Egypt's Operation Badr , which sparked the Yom Kippur War . The Global Offensive: The United States, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the Making of the Post-Cold War Order . The History of Egypt .