This paper presents findings from independent research conducted by Dr. Josef Berger, who mapped the flight routes of the Syrian aircraft and helicopters that penetrated the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War. His research revealed that on the morning of October 9, 1973, the fourth day of the war, Syrian commando forces conducted three separate landings behind the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) that fought in the Golan Heights. This casts the Syrian landings in a new light, as the IDF had, until now, been aware of only one such landing, which took place near Nafakh Junction. In that landing, the nearby IDF forces quickly engaged and eliminated the Syrian forces. The research also correlated the newly discovered Syrian landing sites with nearby sites, where Syrian forces ambushed the reconnaissance company of the 7th armored brigade (Palsar7) and the tanks of the 679th armored brigade.  

IDF forces across the battlefield saw the Syrian helicopters flying overhead, unaware that the helicopters were carrying commando forces to the Golan Heights landing sites. Nevertheless, the various echelons of the IDF, including the 7th and 679th brigades, the 36th division, the Northern Command, the Israel Air Force (IAF), and the IDF General Staff, did not understand this Syrian activity or misinterpreted it. Various publications surveying the Golan Heights battles during the Yom Kippur War, whether official IDF reports or other books about this specific front, make no mention of Syrian commando forces landing near Wasit or A-Dalawe. 

IDF Colonel (Ret.) Pesach Malovany, who has conducted extensive research into Arab military history and Soviet involvement in the Middle East during the USSR era, obtained Syrian materials that confirmed one of the newly discovered commando landings: the October 9 landing near Wasit. This landing occurred at the same time as the well-known landing of the commando force near Nafakh village. Given the dearth of information about the forces that landed and their fighting techniques, Malovany located additional Syrian sources, including Syrian newspapers, going back to 1974. These featured interviews and memoirs by Syrian soldiers and commanders, along with helicopter pilots and Syrian commando fighters who participated in those landings. 

This article weaves together Dr. Berger’s research findings and the information gleaned and translated from Arabic sources by Malovany. Combined, these findings shed light on one incident of the Yom Kippur War that had remained unknown for more than 40 years, both to the IDF and to researchers of the Syrian front. Perhaps this publication, and the new information it reveals, might help glean lessons from the past.