The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Middle East by Martin; Sieff

Author:Martin; Sieff [Sieff, Martin;]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Regnery Publishing
Published: 2010-06-11T04:00:00+00:00

The Soviet Union vs. Israel

In the Six-Day War, the Israelis knew they couldn’t wait to be attacked. They struck first, destroying nearly three-quarters of the Egyptian air force, routing the Egyptian army of Sinai, repelling the Jordanian attack and capturing the West Bank, and hurling back the Syrians and taking the Golan Heights.

All this is well known. What is less well known is that the Soviet Union considered attacking Israel itself. The Soviets had warned Nasser that the Israelis might launch a preemptive strike, but the Soviet role went far beyond supplying arms and intelligence to the Arabs. A book published in 2007, Foxbats over Dimona, documented how Soviet MiG- 25 fighters had flown reconnaissance missions over the Israeli nuclear plant at Dimona. The Soviets knew the Israelis were developing nuclear weapons and wanted to stop them. The Soviets were even preparing for a major amphibious landing and preemptive strikes of their own to destroy the Dimona reactor. In the end, the Israelis won the war so quickly the Soviets never got a chance to jump in.

Like his Soviet masters, Nasser was not fearful of the Israeli army and gravely underestimated it. He and his top commanders also completely underestimated Israel’s air strike capability. They especially had no conception of how the Israelis could multiply their air striking power by rapidly refueling and rearming their planes and sending them out for second and third strikes on the same day. Nasser’s blood-curdling threats of exterminating Israel turned into stark Arab humiliation.

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