Document 5 -Addendum by If Americans Knew: 1973 War (Known in Israel as the Yom Kippur War)*

Yum Kippur War - 1973 - Israel Army and Tanks

In response to the US support for Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Arab nations, primarily members of OPEC, initiated an oil embargo against the United States and other nations that supported Israel. This embargo, which began in October 1973, involved both a complete ban on oil exports to targeted countries and a reduction in overall oil production.

Key details:

Triggers:

The Yom Kippur War, a surprise attack by Egypt and Syria on Israel in October 1973, prompted the Arab nations to retaliate against the US for its support of Israel.

Embargo:

The Arab members of OPEC, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, implemented an oil embargo, cutting off oil shipments to the US and other countries that sided with Israel.

Production Cuts:

The embargo also involved a reduction in overall oil production by the participating Arab nations, aiming to exert further pressure.

Impact:

The embargo caused a global energy crisis, leading to fuel shortages, long lines at gas stations, and significant price increases in the US and other affected countries.

Syrian Army Tank T-20 Russian Made, captured and haul by Israel Army.

Lasting Effects:

The embargo prompted the US and other nations to reassess their energy policies, leading to efforts to reduce dependence on Middle Eastern oil and improve energy efficiency. The embargo also highlighted the strategic importance of oil in international relations and the potential for resource-based political leverage, according to a report from the Baker Institute.

Egypt and Syria continued to demand the return of the land taken by Israel in 1967. However, attempts at diplomacy failed, and eventually, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat warned that war would come if Israel did not return Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Syria's Golan Heights. But Kissinger and the Israelis dismissed him, as did the US media.

These were strategic errors, and they contributed directly to the war that broke out on 6 October 1973 with coordinated attacks by Egypt and Syria against Israeli troops stationed on occupied territory. No fighting actually took place on Israeli territory, but the shock of the attacks often made it seem in the US media that Israel itself was under siege.

Egyptian Army and Tank, participating in Yum Kippur war.- Retreating.

Israel had considered its position unassailable, but a brilliant strategy known as "Operation Badr" resulted in a stunning success. Egyptian planners had feared that the attack might cost as many as 30,000 casualties, but at the end of October 6, Egyptian losses were only 208 dead. As military historian Trevor N. Dupuy summed up: "The combination of thorough and efficient planning, careful security, the achievement of complete surprise, and the highly efficient execution of carefully prepared plans, resulted in one of the most memorable water crossings in the annals of warfare. As with the planning, no other army could have done better."

Demands instantly arose for a massive supply effort by the United States to Israel. President Nixon, at the time, was already deeply involved in the spreading Watergate scandal, and much of the pressure from the Israeli lobby focused on Kissinger.

By 12 October, Israeli Ambassador Simcha Dinitz bluntly warned Kissinger that "if a massive American airlift to Israel does not start immediately then I'll know that the United States is reneging on its promises and its policy, and we will have to draw very serious conclusions from all this." Kissinger's biographers, Bernard and Marvin Kalb, observed of this remark: "Dinitz did not have to translate his message. Kissinger quickly understood that the Israelis would soon 'go public' and that an upsurge of pro-Israeli sentiment could have a disastrous impact upon an already weakened administration.

That same day, US oilmen sent a joint memorandum to President Nixon expressing their alarm at the dangerous possibility of steep oil production cuts and price rises if the US continued its protective policies toward Israel. Nonetheless, Nixon and Kissinger ignored the warning and openly launched a huge air operation to supply Israel on 13 October.

On 18 October, Nixon attempted to appease Israel's clamoring supporters even further by requesting from Congress $2.2 billion in emergency aid for Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other oil-producing states finally imposed a total oil boycott against the United States in retaliation for its unlimited support of Israel. Kissinger estimated that the direct costs to the United States were $3 billion and the indirect costs, mainly from higher prices of oil, $10 billion to $15 billion. He added: "It increased our unemployment and contributed to the deepest recession we have had in the post-war period."

This was a high price to pay for a country that was supposed to enhance US interests.

References:

* From FALLEN PILLARS: U.S. Policy towards Palestine and Israel since 1945 and WARRIORS AGAINST ISRAEL: How Israel Won the Battle to Become America's Ally 1973, both by Donald Neff.

Donald Neff, author of five books about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was a Middle East correspondent for the Los Angeles Times before becoming Jerusalem Bureau Chief and Senior Editor for Time magazine.

More on the oil boycott.