Brit-Am Regular Updates and Outposts on Contemporary Issues
31 May 2023; 11 Sivan, 5783.
Contents:
1. Kissinger denies delaying weapons airlifts to Israel during 1973 Yom Kippur War.
2. Even France has Begun Worrying about Iran.
3. International Anti-Zionists are Antisemites.
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1. Kissinger denies delaying weapons airlifts to Israel during 1973 Yom Kippur War
https://www.timesofisrael.com/kissinger-denies-delaying-weapons-airlifts-to-israel-during-1973-yom-kippur-war/
Iconic ex-top US diplomat says supply complicated by logistical issues, and Washington initially thought Israel was already winning: "This was a huge step we took. It saved Israel."
By TOI STAFF
Extracts:
Former US diplomat Henry Kissinger denied deliberately delaying airlifts of weapons to replenish Israel's depleted supplies during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, saying any delay was due to logistical problems and the fact that Washington initially thought Israel was already winning.
Three years after the war, a retired US Navy admiral told the New York Times that Kissinger had deliberately delayed the supply of weapons in Operation Nickel Grass because he 'wanted Israel to bleed just enough' to soften the way for post-war diplomacy.
However, in an interview broadcast by Channel 12 news on Monday to mark Kissinger's recent 100th birthday, the former secretary of state said of this comment that 'nothing happened that could be interpreted in that way.'
Amid a series of Israeli intelligence failures in the lead-up to the war, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on October 6, 1973, the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.
'To make the airlift of a country available to a war-making country that is in the middle of a war is not something that is normally done. Has in fact never been done,' Kissinger said in the interview, which was carried out on an unspecified date.
'I mean this was a huge step we took. It saved Israel,' the former secretary of state said.
Kissinger said that at the start, the US was under the impression that Israel was already winning the war.
When the war broke out, then-US president Richard Nixon was dealing with the resignation of Agnew over financial crimes, as the administration additionally grappled with the Watergate affair.
Kissinger had been in the job for less than a month.
In addition, according to the report, Kissinger has said then-US defense secretary James Schlesinger opposed the supply of weapons to Israel due to concerns of setting a precedent, and a potential response from Moscow.
Kissinger said that in fact, much of the delay was due to the logistical issues of which planes could transport the weapons.
'We told the Israelis they could pick up any equipment with El Al; on that day we promised Israel that we would replace all its losses, and therefore said expend all equipment that you need, because we're here. On the fourth day we started trying to get an airlift going,' Kissinger said.
'The normal thing is not to use the military airlift unless you're a party to this [conflict]. It took [time] to find out whether that civilian airlift was possible against the opposition of the, military,, Kissinger said.
Nixon famously eventually said, ,Tell them to send everything that can fly.,
Kissinger also said Israel considered a ceasefire a few days into the war, which he assessed was a ,bad idea.,
,What happened also was on Thursday the Israelis were thinking of making a ceasefire. And we told them we will support anything you put forward. But in my judgment it is a very bad idea to make a ceasefire when you,ve lost territory,, Kissinger said.
The statesman, who turned 100 on Saturday, played a pivotal role in US foreign policy, with a long, and at times highly controversial, record.
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2. Even France has Begun Worrying about Iran
SHAMRAK Report:
shamrakreport@gmail.com
France accused Iran of violating an UN Security Council resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear deal after it carried out a long-range ballistic missile test. "These activities are all the more worrying in the context of the continuing escalation of Iran's nuclear program", French foreign ministry spokesperson said.
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3. International Anti-Zionists are Antisemites
SHAMRAK Report:
shamrakreport@gmail.com
German diplomat Sven Kohn von Burgsdorff, who represents the European Union in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, said during a visit to Samaria, There is no such thing as Area B and C, it s all Palestine. Areas A, B, and C are three administrative zones in Judea and Samaria established under the Oslo Accords. Area A is under Palestinian Authority civil and security control. Area C, roughly 60% of the area, is fully under Israeli civil and military control. (If he is right, Israel must ignore the rules of the Oslo Accords, and start removing enemies from the Jewish land.)
- The European Union condemned Israel s decision allowing Jews to return to the evacuated Homesh settlement in the northern West Bank. The European Union is gravely concerned by and condemns the decision of the Israeli authorities to allow Israeli citizens..." (Antisemitic hypocrites are never concerned when Jews are killed by enemies of Israel they support.)