KIPPUR CONFLICT AND MARIN COUNTY FREE UBRARY THAT SAVED ISRAEL ^ 3 1111 02306 6549 i m BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF BEYOND THE WILD BLUE M ISBN 0-312-27303-7 ^^K^ -J-95 95 Can. USUALLY CALLEl. IE YOM IT'S KippurWar. Or sometimes the OctoberWar. The players who surround it are familiar: Sadat and Mubarak, Meirand Sharon, Nixon and Kissinger, Brezhnev and Dobrynin. It was a war that brought Arab and Jew into vicious conflict, awarinwhich Israel almost unleashed hernuclear arsenal and set two superpowers on a treacherous course ofnuclear escalation. It was a war that eventually brought peace, but a peace fraught with delicate tensions, dis- puted borders, and a legacy offurther bloodshed. The Two 'Clock Waris a spellbindingchron- icleofthe internationalchessgame thatwas played out in October 1973. It is a story of diplomacy and military might that accounts for many ofthe dilemmas faced in the present-day Middle East. This is a war that Israel never thought was possible. Surprised by the fury and excellentexe- cution of the Arab onslaught, and perhaps more than a little complacent, Israel suddenly found itselfon the pointoflosingawar because ofa lack ofammunition, planes, and tanks. The United States, after much vacillation, finally elected to help Israel, beginning a tremendous airlift (code named Operation Nickel Grass) that incurred the wrath ofthe Arab states and theirsponsor, the Soviet Union. Fortunately, the airhft came just in time for Israeli ground forces to stabiHze their positions and eventually turn the tide in the Sinai and Golan Heights. It was all made possible by an operation that dwarfed the Berlin Airlift and the Soviets' simultaneous efforts in Egypt and Syria. The Two O'clock War is bound to become \« the definitive history ofa war th approached Armageddon. ^Xl Civic Center ^Mb^ Books 956. 04 Boyne Boyne, Walter 1929- J. , The two o'clock war the : 1973 Yom Kippur conflict and the airlift that savec Israel '^/o2^ DATE DUE Mnv 16 2002 FEC ?:^3 ' '. ~^'^ .:, DEMCO, INC. 38-2931 The n U Also by Walter Boyne J. NONFICTION Beyond the Horizons: The LockheedStory Beyond the WildBlue Clash ofTitans: World War II at Sea Clash ofWings: World War II in the Air Silver Wings The Smithsonian Illustrated History ofFlight The Leading Edge Power Behind the Wheel A Boeing B-32: Documentary History Weapons ofDesert Storm The Aircraft Treasures ofSilver Hill A Phantom in Combat: Documentary History Art in Flight: The Sculpture ofJohn Safer FICTION The Wild Blue (with steven l. Thompson) Trophyfor Eagles Eagles at War Air Force Eagles The W n~3 Tfie 1973 Yom Kippur ContUtt and the Airlift TItat Saved Israel WALTER BOYNE J. THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS ST. MARTIN'S PRESS NEW YORK THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS. An imprint ofSt. Martin's Press. THE TWO o'clock WAR. Copyright © 2002 by Waiter Boyne. Foreword copy- J. rigtit © 2002 by Fredericlc W. Smith. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States ofAmerica. No part ofthis book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010. www.stmartins.com ISBN 0-312-27303-7 First Edition: September 2002 987654321 10 This book is dedicatedwith love to ourfive wonderfulgrandchildren: Dana "J.D." Teague, Grace Teague, WalterJames Coleman, Charlotte "Lottie" Coleman, and Charles "Boo-boo" Coleman.