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The FOXBAT mission doesn't imply the Soviets instigated the 1967 war

Reader comment on item: Foxbats Did Fly over Dimona

Submitted by Charles Martel (United States), Aug 24, 2007 at 11:45

The FOXBAT recon mission did occur (there is clear contemporary U.S. evidence) and it's easy to imagine that Bezhevets is just maintaining Soviet-style secrecy on it.

However, the Soviets didn't have direct control of Nasser or Assad to the degree of being able to order a war with Israel, and they didn't need a war to fly a recon mission over Israel.

I don't know that much about the 1967 War, and I just saw a 2-hour TV history that mentioned the Soviets told the Arabs that Israel was about to attack (which was news to me) but I do not think the two things are causally linked even if the Soviet lie to the Arabs is real.

I would argue that if the Soviets just wanted to overfly Dimona for recon, the safest thing to do would be do it as a complete surprise in peacetime.

During the war, there was a maximum chance the Israelis would immediately shoot it down assuming it to be hostile, while a single aircraft overflying in peacetime would be more ambiguous and the air defenses would inevitably be not-as-ready in peacetime.

Consider the safety of an unannounced flight over Pearl Harbor on 6 December 1941 vs. 8 December 1941.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (19) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
SEND IN THE NUKES. [228 words]DAVID J FEIGEROct 17, 2012 01:53199871
A Call for More Research on the Role of State-Sponsorship in Conflicts More Generally [151 words]AlexNov 5, 2007 00:18113110
Saida 1982 [150 words]UgriSep 9, 2008 03:05113110
Daniel, please read The Fifty Year War [62 words]Tom DavisSep 21, 2007 19:10109408
Hiding [57 words]David W. LincolnSep 21, 2007 10:32109377
This stuff again? [155 words]Wayne WagnerAug 29, 2007 00:25107154
Of course this is not news! [47 words]MosheSep 2, 2007 06:56107154
The inability of the world to write about any event which exonerates Israel. [175 words]Mladen AndrijasevicAug 27, 2007 02:03107040
Dimona libel [91 words]jacob CH.Aug 28, 2007 12:38107040
Russian denial [92 words]Rebecca MouldsAug 25, 2007 17:54106974
1The lie is compounded [214 words]Yuval Brandstetter MDAug 25, 2007 14:34106970
The FOXBAT mission doesn't imply the Soviets instigated the 1967 war [206 words]Charles MartelAug 24, 2007 11:45106902
RTWT [35 words]Brian HAug 24, 2007 17:50106902
1Martel, you do not realize [202 words]Yuval Brandstetter MDAug 25, 2007 14:46106902
None of this implies the Soviets instigated the 1967 war to overfly Dimona [342 words]Charles MartelAug 27, 2007 11:21106902
Of course not! They overflew Dimona prior the 1967 war. [121 words]MosheSep 2, 2007 07:34106902
That is a different story, and plausible [133 words]Charles MartelSep 25, 2007 17:21106902
This was the story from its beginning, and as at last you correctly admitted: It is indeed plausible. [24 words]MosheOct 8, 2007 04:21106902
"Plausible" is a pretty weak statement, and I'm not blaming Israel for 1967 war [344 words]Charles Martel (the baffled)Nov 5, 2007 12:52106902

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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