political issues played into hampering his advance against Ismailia. Sharon would frequently encourage his men by telling them "The secretary of the Likud Party is here with you." Ismail Azmy's decision to detonate a bridge over the Sweetwater Canal on October 20 in order to stall an Israeli attack, in violation of direct orders not to do so, led to him being relieved of his command on October 25, three days after the ceasefire. Captain Asa Kadmoni, who was awarded Israel's highest military decoration for his actions on October 18, later returned his medal as a protest against his government's defense policy. Post cease-fire reconciliation Israeli journalist Abraham Rabinovich, in his account of the Yom Kippur War, writes that despite being involved in intense fighting for several days, the Egyptian and Israeli soldiers in the Ismailia sector who survived the battle were among the first to reconcile, even when the first ceasefire was broken in the south and fighting resumed. On the morning of October 23, an Israeli paratroop company under Captain Gideon Shamir was deploying near the Ismailia Canal, when Shamir saw Egyptian commandos, probably from the unit he had engaged the night before, encamped in an orchard less than 100 meters away. Wishing to ensure there would be no more killing in his sector, Shamir instructed his men to cover him and, taking a soldier who spoke Arabic, went to the commandos, shouting "Cease-fire, peace" so as not to surprise the Egyptians. The commandos held their fire as the two Israelis presented themselves, and soon summoned their company commander, who identified himself as Major Ali. Both men agreed to avoid shooting, and to avoid getting anyone on either side hurt. Ali even surprised Shamir by predicting that Sadat wanted peace with Israel, not just a cease-fire. In coming days, soldiers from both sides would come out to the clearing between their positions and fraternized. When shooting erupted in nearby sectors, they would return to their respective positions. Initially, the Egyptians would fire if it was nighttime, but the Israelis held their fire, and soon the Egyptians stopped firing as well. Soon, the commandos and paratroopers would meet daily, drinking coffee, playing backgammon and soccer, getting to personally know each other, and occasionally holding a kumzits, with the Egyptians slaughtering a sheep and the Israelis presenting food parcels sent from home. The example set by the Egyptians and Israelis