What does Israel do for the United States? So-called pundits have raised the provocative question in recent weeks. There are so many answers: intelligence sharing, testing weapons, sharing defense technologies, logistical support, quiet support for American Arab allies, and more. You know the list.
But what is not well known is that at the request of Henry Kissinger, Israel helped save Jordan from Syria and the PLO in 1970.
In September 1970 == “Black September — The PLO launched a military coup against King Hussein. Syria committed a reinforced division to the Jordanian civil war on September 20, in the “hopes of facilitating a quick Palestinian victory,” according to the U.S. National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies, Reports stated that almost 300 Syrian T–55 tanks and 16,000 troops supported the invasion.
“Help!” King Hussein appealed.
U.S aircraft carriers moved closer to the eastern Mediterranean coastline to threaten Syria. Israel provided vital intelligence to the United States, including aerial reconnaissance.
One suggestion was made by diplomats: Perhaps Israel should “spook” Syria with reconnaissance flights over Damascus and by massing forces near the border.
Who was Kissinger’s Israel liaison? None other than Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s Ambassador in Washington, DC. The man who had beaten Arab armies, including Hussein’s, just three years earlier.
Meanwhile, King Hussein sent this desperate dispatch to President Nixon. Note his appeal for “air strikes from any quarter,” i.e., Israel.
By September 22, Israeli reconnaissance flights assessed that the Syrians were encountering severe logistical difficulties and tank breakdowns, according to the National Defense University. “As the United States and Israel prepared to attack the Syrian invaders, Jordan’s need for assistance dropped, given its successes on the ground.”
Syrian forces completed their withdrawal on September 23.
“Participants in the crisis attributed the Syrian withdrawal to several factors, among them changes in Israeli and U.S. military posture, and Jordanian military effectiveness…” the NDU concluded.
At the end of the crisis, Kissinger sent this memo to President Nixon.
The 1970 “Spooking” operation was not even the first Israeli contribution to U.S. intelligence. In 1956, Israel provided a transcript of Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev’s explosive “Secret Speech” denouncing Joseph Stalin.
