Ahmad Ismail Ali
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Ahmad Ismail Ali (Arabic: أحمد إسماعيل علي) (October 14, 1917 - December 26, 1974) was the Commander-in-Chief of Egypt's army and minister of war during the Yom Kippur War. He is best known for his planning of the attack across the Suez Canal that surprised Israel on October 6, 1973, and began the Yom Kippur War.
Ismail graduated from the Cairo Military Academy in 1938, saw service with the Allies in the Western Desert during World War II, and fought as a brigade commander in the first Arab-Israeli war (1948–49). He later trained in Britain, fought the Franco-British-Israeli forces during the Suez operation of 1956, undertook further training in the Soviet Union, and was a divisional commander in the Six-Day War of 1967. He was made chief of state in March 1969, but was dismissed by President Gamal Abdel Nasser in September as a scapegoat for successful Israeli raids. New president Anwar el-Sadat, however, named him chief of intelligence in September 1970. In October 1972, he accompanied Prime Minister Aziz Sidqi on a visit to Moscow and on his return stifled a coup against the president. That same month, he replaced the anti-Soviet general Muhammad Sadiq as minister of defense and commander in chief and was promoted to full general.
His skill as a strategist and his success in reviving the morale of the Egyptian army became evident in the October 1973 war. Isma'il was made a field marshal in November 1973.
Ismail died in December 1974 from advanced cancer.
