Having worked behind Israel’s back to get a ceasefire agreement that he is now pressuring the Jewish state to accept, President Joe Biden appears to be using the leverage of withholding war material shipments to do so.
An historical similarity occurred a half century earlier concerning Israel. Just like it was caught by surprise when Hamas launched its Oct. 7, 2023, attack, triggering the ongoing Gaza war, a coalition of Arab states, led by Egypt and Syria, launched a surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 6, 1973, triggering the Yom Kippur War. And, just like Biden attempts to bleed Israel today by delaying resupply of badly needed ammunition, the same ploy was attempted by President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
Were it not for the intervention of a senior officer on the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) at the time who was willing to risk his career to do the right thing, the ultimate victory Israel attained may well not have occurred or else come at the cost of additional lives lost as victory was delayed.
Forty-five years after winning that conflict and upon the occasion of Israel’s 70th anniversary in 2018, the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., posthumously recognized the contribution this JCS officer made to help its country survive during a time of major crisis. He, along with 69 other Americans who, individually in various ways and times, had contributed to Israel’s survival during the first 70 years of its existence, were celebrated in the publication, “70 Who Counted.” He was ranked No. 5 among the 70.
But, before sharing this officer’s identity, let us examine what happened.
Keeping in mind that in October of 1973, Nixon was more focused on surviving in office due to the Watergate scandal than he was on foreign affairs, Kissinger pretty much ran the show. As such, he sought to leverage U.S. influence – including ammunition resupply to Israel – in order to end the conflict and advance U.S. interests.
As a JCS member, this officer had direct access to the secretary of defense who, at that time, was James Schlesinger. He advised the secretary that Israel was losing the war and would soon run out of ammunition. While Schlesinger said he understood, he responded his hands were tied as Nixon remained isolated and only Kissinger could give the resupply order.
Undeterred by this, the officer quickly met with someone he knew held Israel’s interests in high regard – Sen. “Scoop” Jackson of Washington state. While Jackson was a Democrat, this was a time when Democrats aggressively supported our major ally in the Middle East. As a result of this meeting, Jackson put pressure on Kissinger to give the resupply a green light, which he did.
The JCS officer then became involved in getting the supplies to Israel using massive U.S. Air Force C-5 cargo planes. Thus, he had to lean hard on various nations controlling essential airspace for transit and refueling to cooperate. Despite most nations either being hostile or indifferent to Israel, he succeeded in obtaining the proper clearances. Within hours of landing in Israel, these supplies were at the front lines, paving the way for victory.
While the JCS officer passed away in January 2000, 18 years later he received recognition for exercising the courage of his convictions for the critical role he played “in airlifting supplies to Israel that were a crucial factor in Israel’s victory.”
I knew the officer well. He was my father, Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr.
An interesting side note is when my father retired as the Navy’s 19th Chief of Naval Operations in June 1974, the administration was still upset with him. Unsurprisingly, Nixon would not attend his change-of-command ceremony and Vice President Gerald Ford was advised neither should he. However, to his credit, Ford did.
As the Israeli Embassy noted in 2018 about the resupply effort, “The operation could not have gone forward without the determined efforts of Admiral Zumwalt who, like Scoop Jackson, should be remembered for decisive action that helped save Israel in one of its most vulnerable moments.”
Looking back on what happened in 1973, I obviously do so with personal pride. But it leaves me dismayed that no senior level military or civilian official in the Biden administration has stepped up to challenge the decision to withhold ammunition for Israel so it can defeat a terrorist group totally committed to destroying it. By denying resupply, Biden signals our enemies we are willing to throw our friends under the bus. It encourages Iran to be more aggressive in the Middle East and China to do the same concerning Taiwan.
It may well be that just like Nixon was preoccupied with his political demise, leaving foreign affairs to Kissinger, Biden is in such a mental decline, he defers to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. If so, it is inexcusable that the U.S., despite knowing additional terms to a ceasefire agreement had been added in negotiations between Egypt and Qatar with Hamas, which the terrorists accepted, did not inform Israel about those new terms – while representing it would get Israel to accept them. When it did not, ammo resupply became leverage. This makes most insightful the late Sen. John McCain’s comment about Blinken when he was nominated in 2014 to be deputy secretary of state that not only was he unqualified but was also one of the worst possible selections to make.
One would have thought it impossible for the Biden administration to hit a new low – but it has. Not only does it deny Israel the right to pursue the only possible solution in Gaza to guarantee peace – i.e., the destruction of Hamas – but it commits Israel to a ceasefire with zero authority to do so, one that leaves the terrorists in place. What is next – a Biden invitation to pro-Hamas protesters to camp on White House grounds?
Obviously, I am biased but cannot help wondering, where have all our leaders of my father’s ilk gone?
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Author: Lt. Col. James Zumwalt
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