Battles of Fort Budapest

The Battles of Fort Budapest (Hebrew: מעוז בודפשט) refer to two attempts by the Egyptian Army to capture Fort Budapest, part of Israel's Bar Lev Line, during the Yom Kippur War. The first attempt took place at noon on October 6, 1973, with the start of Operation Badr, but failed due to Israeli Air Force intervention. The second attempt took place on October 15, at the onset of Operation Stouthearted Men, the Israeli military operation to cross the Suez Canal. Despite significant setbacks caused by poor sea conditions, the second attack was on the verge of success when the Israeli Air Force once again intervened, and this, coupled with Israeli reinforcements, repelled the Egyptian attack.

Aftermath[edit]

The second Egyptian attempt was the last; the Port Said Sector did not launch another attack to capture the fort. Thus Budapest remained the only Israeli fortification of the Bar Lev Line to remain under Israeli control.^[12] Four months after the Yom Kippur War, Captain Motti Ashkenazi, the commander of Fort Budapest, led the protests against the Israeli government's handling of the war.^[13]