TAVIV to CANAIRHED, October 25th

This cable from the Canadian Air Attaché in Tel Aviv informed Ottawa that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) would not be taking any action as a result of the Cuban situation (the IDF, the Attaché noted, was always on alert anyway). Israel was more concerned with monitoring Egypt’s involvement in the conflict in Yemen and how its outcome might effect the regimes in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

The Air Attaché reported that the IDF had pointed out, “with rather heavy humour that now [the] USA must realize what it is like to have an immediate neighbour of this kind and that this situation [that the USA is now in] is normal for Israel.” Intriguingly, a similar remark was made by officials in Egypt on October 24th: that perhaps the Cuban crisis would help the US to understand how the Arabs felt about bases which directly threatened them, particularly in Israel (see CDNW12153).