31 lines
No EOL
1.9 KiB
Markdown
31 lines
No EOL
1.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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category: "Political Figure"
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tags:
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- Person
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- Israel
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- Soviet
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summary: "In 1972, Brezhnev met with Golda Meir, then Prime Minister of Israel, in Finland."
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updated: 2026-10-12
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born: 1906-12-19
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died: 1982-11-10
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location: "Kamenskoye, Ukraine (Russian Empire)"
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---
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[[Leonid Brezhnev]] was a prominent political figure in the [[Soviet Union]] who played a significant role in Middle Eastern affairs during the 1970s, particularly in relation to [[Israel]] and the Arab states.
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### 1972 Meeting with Golda Meir
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In 1972, Brezhnev met with [[Golda Meir]], then Prime Minister of Israel, in [[Finland]]. During this meeting, Meir rejected his proposal for a comprehensive peace settlement in the [[Middle East]].[^1]
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### Intelligence Operations and War Implications
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[[Ari Ben-Menashe]] wrote that this meeting, along with the Soviets bugging Meir's office (which he said was discovered by [[Reuben Yirador]] of [[Unit 8200]]), informed [[Anwar Sadat]] of Israel's attitude and may have prompted the 1973 war.[^1]
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### 1973 Yom Kippur War Threats
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During the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]], as the continued encirclement of the Egyptian Third Army by Israeli forces escalated, Soviet party leader Leonid Brezhnev increased the alert status of his airborne divisions and warned the [[White House]] that unless Israel stopped violating the cease-fire, "we should be faced with the necessity urgently to consider the question of taking appropriate steps unilaterally." The implication was that Brezhnev would send troops as a blocking force behind the front lines in [[Egypt]] to prevent the Israelis from advancing on [[Cairo]].[^2]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. _Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network_. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015).
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[^2]: Hersh, Seymour M. _The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy_. Random House, 1991. Chapter 17. |