If ever a film release could be said to be badly timed, it’s Golda, the bio-pic about former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, who led her country through the Yom Kippur War of 1973, which began after a surprise attack from Arab neighbours Egypt and Syria. The film arrives at a time when another intransigent Israeli prime minister is waging war on another Arab enemy, as a result of another surprise attack. Beyond this point, it might be better to emphasise the differences rather than the similarities.

In 1973, Israeli intelligence was caught napping. They could see the military build-up on two separate borders but were poorly prepared for the enemy’s first strike. In the course of this film, we learn the reasons for this complacency, which came down to human error, although it was Meir who had to shoulder the responsibility.