Russia’s Defense Ministry confirms Soviet sorties over Dimona in 1967
Last Friday the Jerusalem Post published an article citing a recent statement made by chief spokesman of Russia’s Air Force, Colonel Aleksandr Drobyshevsky, who publicly acknowledged a major historical detail related to the 1967 Arab-Israeli War (Six Days’ War).
The detail refers to reconnaissance flights over Israel, specifically one flight by Colonel Aleksandr Bezhevets. The flights over the Israeli compound of Dimona confirms the position two Yale University Press authors present in their recently released book, Foxbats Over Dimona.
In the Jerusalem Post article, co-authors Gideon Remez and Isabella Ginor described this “extraordinary disclosure” as “official confirmation of the book’s exhibit A and the source of its title.” Details here.
Monday’s NY Sun article expanded on this recent development: “…it would be instructive to look at the case made by two journalists-turned-historians, Ms. Ginor and Mr. Remez, who have recently posited one of the most fascinating explanations yet offered on the origins of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war that changed much of modern history.
“According to their new book, “Foxbats Over Dimona” ( Yale University Press), the Six-Day War started because the Soviet Union was concerned about Israel‘s nascent nuclear program, having initially learned about it from an Israeli Communist Party leader, Moshe Sneh, who might have worked in the service of Mother Russia, or Zionism, or both.
“The ‘Foxbats’ in the title refer to the then-experimental MiGÂ-25 reconnaissance bombers that, according to the authors’ reporting, flew over the secret Israeli compound in Dimona in May 1967, primarily to map out plans for the destruction of Israel’s emerging nuclear facility there, which the Soviets planned to demolish under the fog of a war between the Jewish state and its Arab neighbors, a war to be launched at Soviet instigation.
“Confirmation of the authors’ contention was first reported in the Jerusalem Post last week, when the chief spokesman for Russia’s Air Force, Colonel Aleksandr Drobyshevsky, wrote what sounds a lot like a Russian version of ‘The Right Stuff’ in official publications. Describing the extraordinary abilities of Russian test pilots, Mr. Drobyshevsky allowed that one decorated hero, Colonel Aleksandr Bezhevets, performed ‘unique reconnaissance flights over the territory of Israel in a MiGÂ-25RB aircraft’ in 1967.”
To read the entire article, click here.
On the heels of this breaking news, Foreign Affairs just released their review of Foxbats Over Dimona, calling the book, “a book that is truly revisionist, challenging what we thought we knew about the origins and conduct of the Six-Day War….The exact role played by the Soviet Union has always been murky. The authors work their way through the murk, meticulously using every snippet of relevant information….By its nature, this is an impossible case to prove, but Ginor and Remez have succeeded to the point where the onus is now on others to show why they are wrong.”
Read the full Foreign Affairs review.
From Yale University Press:
Read an excerpt of Foxbats Over Dimona
Browse the table of contents
Listen to the authors’ podcast
Thank you for this defense of this brilliant research-oriented book. There have been so many instances of quasi-official organizations, websites and individuals who have endeavored to completely dismiss the substance of this major work of investigative journalism. The motives seem to be to dismiss all evidence that supports and/or justifies Israel’s self-defense goals and any attempts to truly understand what had occurred during the run-up to the Arab world attempt to “erase the mistake of 1948” as Gamel Nasser had described it in May of 1967.
There is another reason I believe this is important: It gives indirect credance to the assertion of some that the Soviets (via their naval electronic spying and communications resources that were stationed in the MedSea before and during the 6-Day War) engineered the deception of the Israeli pilots to provoke an attack upon the USS Liberty spy ship.
The CIA and Israel had a deal (via direct contact in DC) that any US spy vessels would hold back at least 100km from the theater of the impending war. Yet, someone ordered the Liberty to violate that agreement. The Soviets didn’t want the USS Liberty to witness their planned involvement in that conflict, so they deceived the Israeli pilots into thinking it was an Egyptian spy ship disguised as an American vessel. Therefore, the IAF attacked it, until Israeli pilots slowly realized that it was indeed an American vessel – not Egyptian disguised as American.
By never officially acknowledging that fact for all these decades, the soviets accomplished something outside their original objectives: they set off a huge schism between Israel and the CIA and the US Navy and Naval Intelligence. And many of those elements are yet today cooperating with the US Department of State (and their Intell service) in seeking ways to undermine Israel (as a form of revenge for the USS Liberty incident). Wish that were not true, but it has been true now for some 40 years (old hands recruit replacements in that very despicable game). And it all could have been resolved a very long time ago, with some actuall honesty – even in the secret meetings that take place almost daily. But, Israel is still guilty in the eyes of the veterans of the USS Liberty. And they continue to press for Israel’s open condemnation and rejection and US cessation of diplomatic relations with Israel.
President Johnson and the CIA director at that time never “came clean” to anyone about all those events and their sequencing. And the “Official History” of those events has kept our Intelligence services from properly evaluating their own history and actions, so that we may understand our own deficiancies in intell gathering and evaluation, which were extant at that time. That whole matter was/ is probably just as convoluted and arcane as the incidents surrounding the loss of the USS Scorpion, which the Soviets purposely sunk in May 1968 (and we covered it up). See “Scorpion Down” published in 2007. The proof presented is truly extensive; the cover-up on the part of the US Navy and DoD was also emense. They lied to the families of the laost crew; and they lied to the American public – for about forty years. Why? It was “the exigencies of the cold war.” But, we may never know the real motives.