The back story is, like most events involving Nixon, complicated. President Nixon was up-to-his-neck with the Watergate crisis (of his own making) as well as having to deal with the surprise resignation of his Vice-President. He was also, by his own account, drinking heavily to combat the stress. The Soviet Union, sensing blood in the water, picked this moment in history to galvanize nine Arab states, including Egypt and Syria, and instructed them to invade Israel, who would most likely stand alone in the defense of their country. The Soviets were attempting to exert their influence throughout the Middle East and was the chief supplier of munitions to all the major players in that area, except for the nation of Israel. The goal of the Soviet Union was the spread of Communism throughout the world and only one thing stood in their way in the Middle East, Israel.
The attacks came on October 6th, 1973, which was the Holiest of days in the Jewish calendar. In addition to the advantage that came with the surprise attack the Arab nations also possessed a huge advantage in troops and resources. Check out the difference in the size of the attacking forces versus Israel; 1,400 tanks against Israel's 180 tanks, 80,000 Egyptian soldiers against 436 Israeli infantry. Air support was provided by, you guessed it, the Soviet Union. The strength of the attackers plus the isolation of Israel in regard to world support led the Soviets to believe that this war would not last long . . .
Without an influx of American arms to Israel, they were more than likely doomed to defeat and Communism would have continued it's march of influence throughout the world. President Nixon, however, with his great knowledge of world affairs, knew that without intervention by the United States, Israel could not hold out for long. This belief was also emphasized by a midnight phone call from Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel. Nixon had always felt a bond with the the Prime Minister and now he could sense the desperation in her voice. Her call was mostly informative, giving President Nixon the facts about the war and Israel's dwindling military resources. After the call Nixon is quoted as telling his military commanders and advisers, "You get the stuff to Israel. Now. Now." Thus begin Operation Nickel Grass, an American airlift to replace all of Israel's lost ammunition. Over 560 missions were flown by the Americans, dropping over 22,000 tons of supplies. An additional 90,000 tons of material were delivered by sea.
The Soviets had not counted on Israel surviving the attack by so great a superior force and had definitely not counted on the United States supporting Israel. They were forced to consider an alternative to their desired result, that not only might Israel survive, but that the Arab nations were going to lose their own territories! The leader of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev wired President Nixon requesting a ceasefire, President Nixon agreed and the agreement was signed on October 24th.
But this conflict was far from over . . .
The President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, requested that the United States and the Soviet Union should send ground troops to the region to ensure compliance with the agreement. His plan was to try to sucker the American's into a global conflict which Sadat was betting the Americans had no desire to get involved in and would thus back out of this war. Brezhnev quickly agreed to these terms and sent a curt message to Nixon telling him to either comply or the Soviets would enforce the ceasefire themselves. You can imagine what would have happened to Israel if this would have been allowed to happen. But you also have to remember that the Soviets were confident that Nixon was too preoccupied to wade into this world crisis, and even if he did, he lacked the political power to lead the country to the brink of war. Especially coming so soon after the conflict in Vietnam which had ended with the United States abandoning the South Vietnamese to the North Vietnamese and their Soviet allies.
But this is where President's Nixon carefully cultivated perception as a "madman" paid off. He had won this moniker in the Vietnam conflict as he pursued a very unpopular bombing campaign of massive proportions. The Soviets never dreamed that the Americans and especially Nixon would display such strength and conviction and this campaign caused the North Vietnamese to retreat and re-think their advance.
Nixon was about to see if his perception as an unpredictable leader, "madman" so to speak, would again play a part in disarming the enemy on this world stage.
Nixon's response was to summon the Joint Chiefs and order the U.S. military to Def-con III. All Air Force strike units were put on red alert and two aircraft carriers were deployed to the Mediterranean as the world came to a perilous showdown between the two super-powers. This was a massive show of force and now it was the Soviets turn to respond. Not since the Cuban Missile Crisis had the world been faced with the prospect of another World War conflict.
The Soviets blinked.
Mordechai Gazit, director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry during the time of the Yom Kippur War put it this way, "The airlift was not decided because we asked for it. Our relations with the United States were not at a point where we could have asked for an airlift; this was beyond our imagination. It was the hand of God." Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel at the time, referred to Nixon as "my president" and toward the end of her life said this, "For generations to come, all will be told of the miracle of the immense planes from the United States bringing in the material that meant life to our people."
Throughout the Bible we see time after time how God used believers and non-believers alike to fulfill His will. So it was that on October 1973, He used a nearly incapacitated President, adrift in a crisis of his own making, extremely weak both personally and politically, to save His people when they were attacked by an overwhelming force.
"Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, against the Lord and against His Anointed . . . He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision." (Psalm 2:1- 4)
