Middle East Peace — One Step Closer
Comes now the recent rapprochement between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel. But, first, some background, shall we?
Our country has been indelibly marked by the status of peace in the Middle East in four important ways:
1. We have supported Israel through a series of wars with the 1973 Yom Kippur War almost ending with a tragic outcome that was prevented by direct American military material support.
Had the US not sent replacement tanks to make up battlefield losses against the Syrians in the Golan Heights, the Syrians might have taken Tel Aviv. It was a very close thing.
Prime Minister Golda Meir made a phone call to President Nixon and in that same hour American tanks were loaded onto American aircraft, off loaded in Tel Aviv, and sent into battle with no time to even over paint the American stars. It was that close.
Israel continues to be the most powerful democracy in a region dominated by despots.