Posted on 08/13/2014 7:05:16 AM PDT by SJackson
It has been well documented that Israel was on the verge of using nukes at the darkest moments of the Yom Kippur War.
With the Syrians advancing on the Golan and the Egypt’s successful push across the Suez Canal, the Israeli position was dire; the IDF had lost a significant number of aircraft due to the SA-6 missile system which had been supplied to Egypt, and armor units took heavy losses from anti-tank missiles.
There are two versions of the story; the first says that Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, fresh from a visit to the Golan front, was badly shaken by Israeli setbacks and urged Golda Meir to ready the nuclear option, but she refused.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/dayan-pushed-pm-meir-to-consider-using-nuclear-weapons-in-1973/#!
This version slightly contradicts earlier accounts, which suggested that PM Meir had ordered the assembly of some air-delivered weapons. At least one former U.S. official has also reported that Israeli Jericho missiles were placed on heightened alert; they were also capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
The unsung heroes in all of this were the aircrews, maintainers and support personnel of the USAF’s Military Airlift Command (MAC) and the SAC tankers that provided in-flight refueling. After President Nixon gave the order, M-60s were pulled out of our armored battalions, loaded on C-5s and sent to Israel. F-4s were pulled out of Air Force squadrons at Seymour Johnson, Eglin and Nellis and flown to Lod Airport in Israel. They arrived with USAF markings and most flew in combat with the Star of David over the American camouflage paint scheme.
The airlift saved Israel, and made the nuclear option unnecessary. It also highlighted the value of the much-maligned C-5A Galaxy; no other airlifter could carry tanks and other out-sized cargo such long distances.
Thanks for the details. Yeah, much is owed to Nixon and to those in the US military who did an exemplary job.
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