About Golda and the Trials and Tribulations of the Yom Kippur War of 1973

Last year at this time, I wrote a magazine article for the Jerusalem Post about why Israeli filmmakers haven’t made so many films about the Yom Kippur War.  I talked about the fact that the War in Lebanon, and the critique of it, lent itself much more to critical and satirical filmmaking.  The 1973 Yom Kippur War, on the other hand, since it represented a national trauma, was more of a sacred cow and therefore mostly overlooked by filmmakers. 

This year, with the 50^th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War coming up later this month, Israeli society has finally decided to face it head-on in filmmaking (and in major supplements to the Israeli newspapers and on public television).   Two major feature films have been released this year on the subject. 

I’ve already written about The Stronghold, directed by Lior Chefetz, which was a hard-hitting war film about an outpost south of the Suez Canal which was overwhelmed by Egyptian forces on the first days of the war.

Recently, I had the opportunity to see Golda, directed by Guy Nattiv, which provides an intense look during that war at the decision-making by the government leadership -- Golda Meir and members of her cabinet. This is a powerful, persuasive and poignant  film, especially now.  Even though it is not officially classified as an “Israeli film” since it is not made by an Israeli production company, it is nonetheless filled with Israeli subject matter, actors and, of course, the director himself. The real power of the film lies in its protagonist -- Helen Mirren plays the lead role in an overwhelmingly convincing performance.  She brings us into the head and heart of Golda, who was sick with cancer and was getting treatment throughout the war, as we learn from the film, while she was grappling with the problems of the surprise attack and managing the war.

For those who need reminding – the 1973 Yom Kippur War began with a two-pronged surprise attack against Israel.  The Egyptians attacked along the Suez Canal and the Syrians sent massive numbers of tanks to attack on the Golan Heights. Israel was unprepared for this attack and suffered major losses on both fronts.

In the film, Golda’s chain-smoking can be seen as a visual metaphor for the smoke and haze of the battlefield.  But that is the closest we get to the gore of the war.  This is a film about the cabinet meetings, about the decision-making, about the burden of the terrible cost of young lives, and about the international diplomacy which Golda wielded so audaciously. Known as the Iron Lady, she is here depicted as a complex woman with sensitivity, audacity, and great leadership in a very difficult situation, especially since she relied heavily on military intelligence, which turned out to be very faulty.

The film points a finger at three fascinating elements which led to the tragic loss of life – the hubris of Moshe Dayan who didn’t believe the Arab armies were planning a surprise attack, the information obtained by the Mossad which was ignored and the listening devices of the military intelligence which were mostly unused.   

The entire film is seen in retrospect as Golda testifies in front of the 1974 Agranat Commission, which was tasked to investigate what went wrong in the preparedness and who was to blame for the blunders and mistakes of this war.  Although she was acquitted by the Commission, Golda was largely held to blame by Israeli public opinion.  Perhaps this film will help to re-evaluate her contribution to the State of Israel – both in its early years and also during this critical period of the war.

It is interesting to note that the filmmaker, Guy Nattiv, was himself born in 1973, the year of the Yom Kippur War.  So, this year, when we are marking 50 years since that terrible war, Nattiv is turning 50.  Nattiv won an Oscar for best short film for Skin (2018), which put him in a category with Moshe Mizrachi – two Israeli filmmakers who have won Oscars.  Nattiv’s previous feature films (which have been reviewed on this blog) include: The Flood (2010) about a family dealing with a special needs child, and two films in collaboration with Erez Tadmor – Strangers (2008) about forbidden love between a Palestinian and an Israeli who meet abroad and MagicMen (2013) about the relationship between a Holocaust survivor father and his grown son.

I was emotionally wrought after viewing this film. I really felt for Golda, for her personal life and for her commitment to the state of Israel and to the many young soldiers who died during that existential war. Indeed, the filmmaker dedicated this film to them. I was reminded, once again, of the terrible costs of war, and therefore of the need for peacemaking, to avoid such terrible wars in the future.