Kissinger denies delaying crucial weapons supply to Israel during Yom Kippur war

Former U.S. Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, denied that he was delaying airlifts of weapons to Israel during the Yom Kippur war in 1973. 

Kissinger, who turned 100 this week, was asked by Israel’s Channel 12 about an old comment by a U.S. Navy Admiral accusing Kissinger of delaying the airlift because he “wanted Israel to bleed just enough” so that it would be ready for diplomacy after the war.

Kissinger denied this, saying “nothing happened that could be interpreted in that way,” and that the U.S. thought Israel was winning the war, which began after Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel’s northern and southern border on October 6, 1973.

“If you look at the days of the war… until Tuesday morning, we thought Israel was winning and was crossing the (Suez) canal. It was only Tuesday afternoon that (Israeli ambassador to the US Simcha) Dinitz came back to the United States. And it was not until Tuesday evening that I could reach Nixon because of Agnew,” Kissinger said, referring to Vice President Spiro Agnew who resigned that week.

Kissinger went on to say that the Nixon administration 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.”

“The normal thing is not to use the military airlift unless you’re a party to this. It took time to find out whether that civilian airlift was possible against the opposition of the… military,” he added.

The Yom Kippur was is seen as one of the biggest intelligence failures in Israeli history. 2,656 soldiers were killed and 7,251 injured. Israel eventually regained control of the borders, pushing back both the Egyptian and Syrian army.

Kissinger played a vital role in the aftermath of the war, conducting what was coined as “shuttle diplomacy” between Israel, Egypt and Syria.

He remains among the most prominent and controversial diplomats in U.S. history, due to his hawkish views and instrumental role in continuing U.S. bombing of Vietnam and Cambodia.

“Henry A. Kissinger approved each of the 3,875 Cambodia bombing raids in 1969 and 1970” as well as “the methods for keeping them out of the newspapers,” according to a 1973 Pentagon report.