After losing control of Mount Hermon on October 6 and failing to recapture it on October 8, the IDF, and the Golani Brigade in particular, grew determined to recapture it. Its loss levied a heavy toll on Israel's intelligence gathering during the war. At 10:15 PM on October 19, Israeli Chief of Staff (Ramatkal) David Elazar was on his way to the Israeli Northern Command to monitor an attack on the Hermon. At that time, the General Staff learned of the United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's notification of an immediate ceasefire to the war. Elazar was asked to return to Tel Aviv, where he met with the Defense Minister, Moshe Dayan, and they agreed that recapturing the Hermon was top priority.