Intelligence Failure and Need for Cognitive Closure: On the Psychology of the Yom Kippur Surprise

• Published in: Political psychology Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 75 - 99
• Main Authors: Bar-Joseph, Uri, Kruglanski, Arie W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, USA and Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.03.2003; Blackwell Publishing
• Subjects: Cognitive closure; Cognitive psychology; Empirical evidence; Failure; History; Intelligence; Intelligence services; Israel; Judgment; Motivation; need for cognitive closure; Political psychology; Psychological aspects; Psychological Factors; Social psychology; strategic surprise; War; Warnings; Wars; Yom Kippur; Yom Kippur War

This paper uses newly available evidence to shed light on the circumstances and causes of the 6 October 1973 Yom Kippur surprise attack of Egyptian and Syrian forces on Israeli positions at the Suez Canal and the Golan Heights. The evidence suggests that an important circumstance that accounts for t...