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+---
+tags:
+  - Person
+  - Military
+  - Israel
+---
+David Elazar, also known as Dado, was the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army. He was among [[Golda Meir]]'s closest aides, part of her "kitchen cabinet." During the desperate early days of the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]], on Monday, October 8, Elazar was present at a dramatic all-night meeting in Meir's office in [[Tel Aviv]]. Faced with the imminent collapse of Israeli forces, the leadership resolved to implement three critical decisions: rally its collapsing forces for a major counterattack; arm and target its nuclear arsenal in the event of total collapse and subsequent need for the [[Samson Option]]; and inform [[Washington D.C.]] of its unprecedented nuclear action to demand an emergency airlift of replacement arms and ammunition.[^1]
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+Elazar's daily diary, published in Hebrew, blacked out the night of October 8, recording only the phrase: "Crucial meeting." He later told an aide that he was "scared to death" during this period, as he had a child on duty at the front.[^1]
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+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 17.