"There Will Be No More Killing and We Shall Know No More Bereavement" – An Official Letter to Bereaved Military ...

"There Will Be No More Killing and We Shall Know No More Bereavement" – An Official Letter to Bereaved Military Families, Hand-Signed by Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir – Sent a Day Before the Outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, October 5, 1973
An official letter of condolence sent by Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir, to bereaved military families on October 5, 1973, one day before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War. Typewritten on the official stationery of the Prime Minister's Office and hand-signed by Golda Meir. Jerusalem, 1973.
In the decades following the establishment of the state of Israel, Prime Ministers used to keep in touch with bereaved families and send them letters of condolence before the Jewish holidays and official events. Golda Meir, who was appointed Prime Minister in 1969, strictly followed this practice and regularly corresponded with members of bereaved families, both privately and officially. As part of this correspondence, Golda Meir sent a letter on the eve of Yom Kippur, October 5, 1973. Several hours later, the Yom Kippur War broke out. The Yom Kippur War, a war that to this day is considered the worst intelligence failure in Israeli history, cost the lives of approx. 2500 Israeli soldiers.
This letter expresses the great significance ascribed by Golda to the fallen and their families, and in retrospect is shadowed by the disaster about to befall the country without her knowledge. Golda writes: " On the eve of Yom Kippur, a day of self-examination, we painfully remember the heroes of Israel… before our eyes rise the beloved figures of our dear fallen, whose deaths granted us life" (Hebrew). Golda then expresses hope for peace, tragic in hindsight of this historic moment: " Your pain is the pain of the entire nation… Our first mission is the attainment – the attainment of peace for Israel. The memory of our dear ones urges us to do everything so that there will be no more killing and we shall know no more bereavement" (Hebrew).
The Yom Kippur War broke out on October 6, 1973. At 14:00, the armies of Egypt and Syria, supported by expeditionary forces from Arab countries, launched a coordinated attack on the state of Israel. During the first days of the war, the Syrian army penetrated the depth of the Golan Heights and the Egyptian army crossed the Suez Canal. Despite the sheer surprise, the IDF forces succeeded in holding off the assault in the northern front, crossing the Suez Canal in the southern front and besieging the Egyptian Third Army. On October 24, 1973, the ceasefire between the parties went into effect.
The war deeply shocked the Israeli society, and subsequently, the public trust of the government weakened. The commission for investigating the failings of the war – the Agranat Commission – held the military echelon responsible; the public, however, refused to accept its conclusions. Due to the increasing criticism, Golda Meir submitted her resignation as Prime Minister in April 1974.
Enclosed: an accompanying letter, typewritten on official stationery, by the military secretary of the government Yisrael Shneur to the chairman of the Yad Labanim Center of Netanya, Avraham Yahel.
[1] leaf, 28 cm. Good condition. Some stains to margins. Minor creases and fold lines. Filing holes with open tears between the holes and the edges of the letter. Pinholes to upper margins. Placed in a custom-made case, with leather edges and the gilt-embossed name "Golda Meir".