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00:01June 1981, eight fighter jets are spotted in the skies over Baghdad, preparing to attack.
00:07Their target, the pride and joy of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
00:12It was one of the most important military surprises of all time.
00:17As the jets dive at their target, stunned Iraqis stare in disbelief.
00:22The insignia on the wings is the Star of David, the symbol of the Israeli Air Force.
00:27How could Israel strike from such a great distance without detection?
00:31This is something that has not been done before.
00:33For more than two decades, the Israelis have kept the details of this unprecedented mission, a closely guarded state secret.
00:40We were not able to penetrate Israeli intelligence to gain any heads up about a potentially aggressive action against the
00:46reactor.
00:47But now, Israel has released these classified documents, and for the first time, the mission's officers, architects, and pilots can
00:55finally tell their story.
00:57There was a lot of firing from the ground.
00:59A lot of firing.
01:00You see every bullet, and each one of them, it's for you.
01:03It was an attack that shocked the world.
01:06I could hear the president.
01:07He said, they did what?
01:10This is a story of international espionage, blackmail, and targeted assassinations.
01:16A story of one of the most daring and dangerous military operations ever attempted.
01:21The story of Israel's raid on the reactor.
01:36It is early in June 1981.
01:39Despite relative peace between Israel and the Arab world,
01:42Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin gives the green light for a top-secret military operation to proceed.
01:49Moments later, eight F-16 jets taxi down the runway of a secret Israeli airbase in the Sinai Desert,
01:57carrying a weight that exceeds nearly twice the design specs of the aircraft.
02:05With the additional weight, the jets struggle to get airborne, but do so with precious little runway left.
02:11Finally, after years of secrecy, planning, and espionage,
02:17a mission that could determine the very fate of Israel is underway.
02:24I felt that it is the future of the state of Israel on my shoulders, yes.
02:31Many of us were grandsons or sons of people who had been through the Holocaust.
02:38And we had been a part of a mission that was to prevent another Holocaust.
02:45The planning of the mission, dubbed Operation Opera, had been underway for over three years.
02:52But right from the start, Prime Minister Begin and his staff were hoping,
02:57even praying the raid would never have to take place.
02:59We decided to put the kind of a red line, if you can call it a red line,
03:05saying that we'll continue to try all kind of diplomatic efforts.
03:10Means using the military force only as a last resource.
03:18What was this threat to the Jewish state that had the Israeli government so concerned?
03:23What enemy had the capability to strike this kind of fear in the hearts of a recognized military power?
03:33The answer laid nearly 600 miles to the east, in Baghdad, Iraq, home of Saddam Hussein.
03:43An article appeared in one of the major Baghdad newspapers,
03:48saying that they would have a nuclear bomb to neutralize Israel.
03:55In his 1987 bestseller, First Strike, Israeli author Shlomo Naktimon describes a nightmarish scenario
04:03that in 1981 was all too real.
04:08In the skies over Tel Aviv, an unidentified Boeing 707 is spotted approaching from the sea.
04:14All of a sudden, a huge dark object falls from underneath the airplane's wing.
04:21Would Saddam actually have used the nuclear bomb against Israel?
04:26Knowing Saddam Hussein, I think you have the answer.
04:36It's very obvious that this was a man who cared very little about human life
04:42and the values that dominate western democratic societies, and that included Israel.
04:48And they were dedicated to the destruction of Israel.
04:53He published a statement to the Iranian people, telling them that this nuclear capability
04:59is not going to be used against them.
05:02This is what we're talking about in the time of war with Iran, but against the Zionist entity.
05:10With three bombs, there could be at least a half a million, maybe 600,000 Israeli casualties
05:17and the destruction of their major cities.
05:22Whatever Saddam's intentions were, he knew Iraq did not possess the resources necessary to develop a nuclear weapon.
05:31What his country did have in abundance was oil and billions in cash to spend.
05:36So, armed with these two irresistible commodities, Saddam went shopping for a reactor
05:44and quickly found a supplier, French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac and the French government.
05:52Chirac and Saddam Hussein had become quite close
05:58and had struck a contract whereby France would build this nuclear reactor.
06:06France charged him 200 million dollars.
06:10He bought Mirage jets and 7,000 Renaults.
06:17I was interested in the story because it was too good to be true.
06:21Too nicely, too clean, too...
06:25Everything was too perfect.
06:28Jean-Pierre Van Gert is a renowned French investigative reporter.
06:34Famous for uncovering government secrets and scandals for over 40 years.
06:39It was Van Gert who first broke the story about the questionable dealings between France and the notorious dictator.
06:45During his investigation, he also uncovered possible evidence that Saddam had induced and enticed French officials to cooperate.
06:53The French official got back from Iraq oil contact in the Middle East and they got money.
07:05When the agreement was announced in 1975, the French government defended their actions.
07:11The facility would be purely a civilian reactor, used for energy purposes only.
07:17While many accepted this explanation, there were those who doubted the rationale.
07:23Here was a nation that didn't need energy resources, didn't need nuclear energy, run by a nefarious thug.
07:34A killer.
07:36And what could one properly assume?
07:40Publicly, he claimed that this is for energy, for capability of scientific, peaceful goals.
07:48Privately, we know from scientists who worked, their goals were based on the assumption that two to three bombs will
07:57demolish the state of Israel.
07:59And those were the numbers that they were working on.
08:01Everybody knew the real meaning of that construction would have been a military purpose.
08:10Within weeks of the announced agreement, construction on the reactor began just outside of Baghdad.
08:16Saddam named the soon-to-be-built reactor after the Babylonian month of Tammuz,
08:21the very same month in which Nebuchadnezzar began his assault on the Jewish people in 586 B.C.
08:28But these developments failed to raise concerns by any nation other than Israel, who regarded the situation with pessimistic trepidation.
08:36Obviously, satellite photography was providing data on the construction of a reactor.
08:43I recall having seen it or mention of it during the transition from the Carter administration to the Reagan administration.
08:50But I don't recall that we paid any particular attention to the progress of that reactor, nor were we particularly
08:56alarmed by it.
08:57There was no attention given to it.
09:01Having verified the capabilities of the reactor through several international independent sources,
09:07Prime Minister Begin found himself with only one option.
09:10Set into motion a plan, either through diplomacy, espionage, or military action, to stop the reactor from going hot.
09:18He then tasked the head of the IAA to search out several possibilities of how they could go about neutralizing
09:29this.
09:29And that's what began this whole mission.
09:37As the eight Israeli F-16 fighter jets clear the runway, they streak towards their target.
09:43Within minutes, they are within Jordanian airspace.
09:46As planned, the pilots then descend to an unthinkable altitude of only 100 feet above the ground.
09:56We didn't want the enemy radar to see us, not in Saudi Arabia, not in Jordan, and not in Iraq,
10:02of course.
10:04Then, as they approach the Gulf of Aqaba, disaster strikes.
10:09And they flew right over this beautiful yacht, King Hussein of Jordan's yacht.
10:16And he looked up and saw eight Israeli fighters heading east, right above his yacht, which, of course, was shaking.
10:25And he figured out immediately what it's all about.
10:28So he called his officer on the ship to call the Kwan Center in Amman to tell the brothers that
10:39the Israelis are coming to knock up the reactor.
10:44The pilots, unaware of the potential danger below, proceed on course.
10:49They initiate radio silence and will continue this way until they are ready to attack their target.
10:57The necessity for such a dangerous mission came only after all other attempts to halt the construction of the reactor
11:03failed.
11:04We concluded our assessment that we are going to have to add.
11:11Leaving him with very few alternatives, Begin reluctantly instructed his military commanders to begin planning Operation Opera.
11:19At the same time, Begin instructed the Mossad, Israel's famed Secret Service Agency, to proceed with their own particular methods
11:27of delaying the construction.
11:28They decided to give lessons to prove that they can do things.
11:37And they did.
11:42The Mossad had found that the French were about ready to ship the core nuclear reactor to Iraq.
11:52And it was, I mean, stored at a warehouse in a French town on the Mediterranean.
11:59They put two charges of explosives to, quote, unquote, destroy the place.
12:09It did not destroy it enough, though.
12:11It could be patched up.
12:13And Iraq decided to patch it up.
12:16But it took another six months.
12:19So they delayed it for another six months.
12:23The Mossad was also able to infiltrate the French Atomic Energy Commission and identified a top Egyptian nuclear scientist working
12:31for Saddam in Paris.
12:32In a scenario right out of a spy novel, the agents offered him sex, money, and power in exchange for
12:39information on the reactor.
12:40He was not interested in doing any business with them.
12:46So the Mossad decided to just take him out then.
12:50On Saturday, June 14, 1980, Dr. Yahya El-Meshed checked into the upscale Meridian Hotel in Paris.
12:57Mossad, bad guys, send an escort girl to the room of that poor guy.
13:04When he opened the door, they slit his throat.
13:08They didn't steal anything.
13:10Now, a prostitute had been in the hallway.
13:13She fled, but she contacted the police.
13:16And before she was able to be interviewed, a black Mercedes ran her over and then disappeared.
13:25So she was killed before she was able to say anything.
13:32Over the course of the development of the reactor, various news agencies reported that nearly a dozen nuclear scientists working
13:38on the project lost their lives.
13:40Many of the deaths were blamed on the Mossad.
13:51Despite the espionage, the murders, the sabotage, it was clear to the Israelis that nothing was going to stop Saddam
13:57from completing the construction of the reactor.
14:01There was a moment that the Mossad notified the prime minister that they had exhausted all of their resources.
14:07And at the moment this notice was received, it was clear it was a green light for the attack.
14:17After escaping Jordanian airspace apparently undetected, the eight F-16s enter Saudi Arabia airspace.
14:24Here, avoiding detection will be even more difficult.
14:28The Saudis have recently taken delivery on a fleet of AWAC spy planes from the U.S.
14:33that patrol Saudi Arabia continuously, searching for enemy encroachments.
14:37To further complicate matters, the landscape has changed drastically.
14:45Flying just 100 feet above the ground now becomes a challenging task, even for the most seasoned of the Israeli
14:51pilots,
14:52as they must negotiate the peaks and valleys that dot the topography.
14:58It is over Saudi Arabia that the squadron must execute the first of several never-before-tried dangerous maneuvers.
15:07What we did actually, we dropped the fuel tanks in the desert after we've been using all the fuel, of
15:14course.
15:14This is something that is not allowed to do in F-16, I think even today, because the wing tanks
15:20are very close to the bombs.
15:22And when you carry bombs on the wings, you cannot, you are not allowed to jettison the wing tanks until
15:28you get rid of the bombs.
15:29There was some concern whether the wing tanks would smash into the bomb or flip over the wing and damage
15:40the flaps.
15:41But indeed, they dropped them, and these 16 wing tanks are still there in the desert someplace even today.
15:55Dropping the wing tanks was the only maneuver the pilots had not practiced in their intensive training that had begun
16:00some 10 months earlier.
16:03It had the mission proceeded as originally planned.
16:05None of the eight pilots would have been over Saudi Arabia now, much less worrying about external fuel tanks.
16:13We didn't have F-16. F-16 arrived only July 1980.
16:17Ivory's initial plan called for an armed incursion into Iraq, but a similar mission by the United States military to
16:25rescue the hostages in Iran was a complete failure,
16:28and one which forced the Israelis to rethink their plan.
16:34Before an alternative plan could be conceived, a seemingly unrelated event in the Middle East took place that set in
16:41motion a chain of fortuitous events for Israel.
16:44In 1979, fundamentalist Iranians overthrew the Shah of Iran.
16:53Prior to the coup, the Shah had ordered 76 new top-of-the-line F-16 fighter jets that now
17:00could not be delivered to the new hostile government.
17:03The State Department offered them to Israel, and of course they immediately said, yeah.
17:11That then changed Ivory's thinking completely.
17:19The F-16s would require a new squadron made up of Israel's top guns.
17:25Ultimately, this elite group would be the ones to pilot the mission, though at the time, they were unaware of
17:31this distinction.
17:33They generally called me and Lieutenant Colonel Russ.
17:38And they told us that he picked us as the first commanders because we had an experience in air-to
17:45-ground missions.
17:47And he would like us to concentrate on air-to-ground missions.
17:52On the way back to our base, from his office, we were wondering, what was that all about?
18:00Regardless of the directives, all the pilots were exhilarated to be chosen to initiate Israel's state-of-the-art fighter.
18:09It's cozy.
18:12It's built like a glove.
18:15It's built for the pilot.
18:18It was built by pilots.
18:21Much easier to fly than an F-15.
18:26A lot of thought for the pilot's ability to do a lot of things at the same time.
18:32Maneuvered the airplane while operating the radar systems, the weapon systems.
18:38So it's a fighter-pilot's fighter.
18:44It was only after the pilots had returned from their formal training in Utah
18:48that General Ivory revealed the details of the mission to the group.
18:52Their reaction was as he expected.
18:55I was shocked because I didn't know that Iraq had a nuclear program,
19:01let alone thought about getting to Baghdad, which was quite a distance away.
19:09It didn't cross our mind that there was anything like this.
19:12There was a big map on the wall with a small pin southeast of Baghdad,
19:17and we were told that there is a nuclear reactor there.
19:21We told that they are planning a mission to destroy it.
19:28Once the mission was revealed, the real training began.
19:32We had trained at flying at a very low altitude for a long time in a close formation,
19:38and the F-16 had special problems that had to be dealt with.
19:43The weapon was single engine, so we thought maybe a single engine.
19:47We used to fly on two engines, on a twin engine, and this is a single engine.
19:50What happened with the engine quit on us, but there's another engine in the seat.
19:59The route itself would take the pilots first over the southern tip of Jordan,
20:03then across northern Saudi Arabia, both sworn enemies of Israel at the time.
20:08After crossing the Saudi border into Iraq, the pilots would set a course straight for Baghdad.
20:14Because the mission would be over 1,200 miles in distance, the pilots had to figure out a way to
20:19train,
20:20simulating that distance while remaining in Israeli airspace.
20:25Israel still had part of Sinai, and we could fly through Sinai down to Sharm el-Sheikh,
20:31and then even down into the Red Sea and come back.
20:33We had to fly several times back and forth to simulate the range.
20:38The youngest of the F-16 pilots was a 26-year-old captain named Ilan Ramon,
20:44who will always be remembered as Israel's first astronaut,
20:49and was one of seven who perished in the space shuttle Columbia tragedy in 2003.
20:57Back in 1980, Ramon was eager to join the elite group of pilots
21:01and contribute his specialized skills to the mission.
21:06The first person I shared this secret with was Captain Ilan Ramon.
21:11With his childish smile, he told me that it's slightly out of range.
21:16Well, you can fly there, but you cannot land back in Israel.
21:19If you want to land in Jordan, then it's possible.
21:25Ilan Ramon was correct.
21:26Since mid-air refueling was not an option,
21:29the F-16s had to be modified and scaled down.
21:32This meant adding two additional fuel tanks,
21:35one under each wing,
21:36and eliminating everything but essential equipment,
21:39which in effect would make the aircraft defenseless.
21:42We didn't take with us any jamming pods,
21:45which are for self-defense against electronic measures,
21:50I mean radars and so on.
21:54But from their perspective,
21:55they were like flying ducks in some way.
21:58They did a mission and coming back home like flying ducks
22:02and had to, without any capability to defend themselves.
22:07As the target date fast approached,
22:10the Mossad kept an eye on the progress of the reactor,
22:12utilizing top-secret U.S. spy satellites.
22:17The satellite access allowed Israel to monitor every detail of the construction.
22:23It grew from just this one dome-shaped reactor that the French sold them
22:29to kind of a nuclear Oz.
22:34Many, many, many buildings,
22:36the administration buildings of the chemical conversion factory
22:41where they could transform the spent nuclear fuel into plutonium,
22:47just everything.
22:51The photos revealed the facility had been impressively fortified
22:55with new batteries of anti-aircraft artillery
22:57and strategic surface-to-air missiles known as SAMs.
23:03Clearly, the situation in Baghdad had progressed faster than anyone could imagine.
23:09Then, on June 1st,
23:11the French newspaper LaPoin reported that the construction of the reactor was complete.
23:17It would now only be a matter of months
23:20before the facility was fully operational.
23:23Five days later,
23:24Prime Minister Begin summoned General Ivry to his residence.
23:28The operation he announced
23:29will take place the day after tomorrow,
23:32Sunday, June 7th.
23:44Sunday, June 7th, 1981
23:46was another typical summer day throughout Israel.
23:49From the holy city of Jerusalem
23:51to the modern metropolis of Tel Aviv,
23:53there was nothing to indicate this was going to be anything
23:56but just another Sunday.
24:00However, at Itzayan,
24:02the secret Israeli airbase in the Sinai,
24:05June 7th was anything but typical.
24:07All of the pilots had reported to the base the day before,
24:11and now they were busy thoroughly inspecting each of the F-16s.
24:17When I did the round,
24:20checking the airplane before that,
24:22I all of a sudden felt myself touching the airplane and caressing it.
24:26You kind of want the airplane to have a personality
24:30in the sense that you may break the next flight
24:33or the flight before,
24:35something may go wrong,
24:36but don't go wrong on me this time.
24:40The final briefing came later that morning.
24:43General Ivry addressed the squadron with rhetoric
24:45that left no doubt in the minds of the pilots
24:48about the enormity of the undertaking.
24:51And he said,
24:52OK, you guys,
24:53if you succeed,
24:55you will save Israel for eternity.
24:59And I told him,
25:00listen,
25:01there is one simple fact.
25:03They cannot stop us from getting there.
25:05I don't know if you can come back.
25:07They cannot stop us.
25:10After the briefing,
25:11the pilots had several hours to be alone with their thoughts
25:14and to contemplate what lay ahead.
25:16Amir Nahumi,
25:17who would lead the second of two formations,
25:20was overwhelmed.
25:21There,
25:22when I first felt the gravity of this mission,
25:27how heavy it is for us.
25:32I distinctly remember that I felt that
25:36Ilan Ramon,
25:37who was my wingman and myself,
25:39were going to be killed
25:39and couldn't share the information with my wife
25:42or anybody else.
25:43And I remember that I came to peace with myself
25:47on the day of the mission
25:50because I'm named after my grandfather
25:53who had died in a concentration camp.
25:55And I felt that I'm flying for him.
25:57And there was some calm in it
25:59that you know that there is a meaning
26:01to whatever happens to you.
26:10At exactly 1601,
26:12the pilots fired up their engines
26:14and taxied to the runway.
26:15In an attempt to carry as much fuel as possible,
26:18the jets underwent a very dangerous
26:20and precarious maneuver
26:21called hot refueling
26:23just prior to takeoff.
26:26It was something that had not been done before.
26:28We brought the tankers to the runway.
26:32We just hooked,
26:33connected them to the end.
26:34While we were waiting for the time to take off,
26:38we were topping up the airplane.
26:40I personally had a problem with fuel transfer.
26:43My airplane was not refueling.
26:45If you were not able to refuel,
26:47basically you weren't able to come back.
26:52Moments later,
26:54the squadron's technical officer
26:56gave the pilots the thumbs-up signal.
26:58One of the major concerns
27:00for Zev Ross,
27:01who was the lead pilot,
27:05was, you know,
27:06getting off the ground.
27:08And indeed,
27:10when they finally started taxing down the runway,
27:14he wasn't gaining enough speed.
27:17As he was passing by these different markers
27:19where normally you'd be up
27:21and heading off into the blue,
27:24he was still on the tarmac.
27:26He was afraid
27:27he was going to run out of a runway.
27:33Despite the burden of the heavy load,
27:35all eight of the F-16s lifted off
27:37and headed east.
27:38The mission was underway.
27:48Now, some 90 minutes later,
27:50the pilots were nearing a rocky airspace.
27:53I think as fighter pilots,
27:56and getting used to being scared,
27:58which is part of the job,
28:00you occupy yourself
28:02with the technicalities of flying.
28:04I think as fighter pilots,
28:05I think it's a little bit of pressure on the camera.
28:08If it's in the airport,
28:09it's a little bit better.
28:10So you're making sure
28:12that you're not flying into the ground.
28:13You can't talk to your buddies
28:15because there's a radio silence,
28:17electronic silence.
28:18But you have time to think.
28:21And maybe even enjoy the scenery a little bit
28:25to take your mind off
28:28what's going to happen.
28:29This was a terrain
28:31that we never flew about.
28:33This was a terrain well defended.
28:44At 1735,
28:46the pilots passed the Euphrates River
28:47in western Iraq,
28:49the designated landmark
28:50to begin the bombing runs.
28:52Each pilot now accelerated
28:53their airspeed to 540 knots.
28:56And now flying at 50 feet
28:58becomes very difficult.
28:59So you really have to concentrate
29:01on your flying.
29:01And all you see
29:03is your buddy in front of you.
29:04And we were four pairs
29:06about three seconds apart.
29:10Miles away in Baghdad.
29:14Like in Israel,
29:15it was a very typical Sunday afternoon.
29:17Most people were enjoying
29:19the day off from work,
29:20including all the French technicians
29:22working at the reactor.
29:24And this was a detail
29:25that had not been overlooked
29:26by the Israelis.
29:29We decided,
29:31according to our assessment,
29:33that much less employees
29:34are going to be,
29:36at least,
29:36French employees on Sunday.
29:38So we decided to make,
29:40to launch the attack on Sunday.
29:50The time the raid took place
29:52was also factored
29:54into the attack strategy.
29:55The timing was
29:56a very good timing
29:57where a change of guard
29:59takes place
30:00between day shift
30:01and night shift.
30:04Relic Shafir was right.
30:06Moments before the attack began,
30:08the Iraqi technicians
30:09who were manning
30:09the anti-aircraft artillery guns
30:11and the surface-to-air missiles
30:13had taken their dinner break.
30:16And now the adrenaline
30:17starts to flow.
30:18You make sure
30:18all your switches are on,
30:20everything is all set.
30:21You check and recheck,
30:23look at the wingman.
30:29Where the other guys are,
30:30look forward
30:31and wait for the fire to begin.
30:34Relic and the other pilots
30:36would have to wait
30:37for the anti-aircraft firing
30:38to begin.
30:39Because for some
30:40inexplicable reason,
30:41the guards at the reactor site
30:43had turned off
30:44the radar
30:45that could have intercepted
30:46the attacking F-16s.
30:49When we turned on the radars
30:51and we saw
30:52that there were no fighters
30:54over Baghdad,
30:55we were really surprised.
30:56We were surprised
30:57and in a way
30:59we were even disappointed.
31:00We expected them
31:01to be over Baghdad
31:02because the war was going on.
31:03Because we knew
31:04that they could see us
31:06at least 15 minutes before.
31:08All their attention
31:10was towards east
31:13and they didn't expect
31:14somebody coming
31:15from the west.
31:16The jets accelerated
31:18to 600 knots
31:19and pulled up
31:20to an altitude
31:20of more than 4,000 feet.
31:23With the target in sight,
31:24they were now ready
31:25to begin their dive.
31:28But as the jets
31:29screamed towards the target,
31:31Zev Ross discovered
31:32he had misjudged
31:33the dive point
31:33and would not be able
31:34to hit the reactor dome.
31:36So Yadlin,
31:38his wingman,
31:39cut in underneath Ross
31:41and became
31:42the number one bomber
31:43instead of Ross.
31:45In the meantime,
31:46Ross did a loop-de-loop
31:47with his plane
31:48and came in behind Yadlin.
31:59Yadlin and Ross dropped
32:01both of their bombs
32:02perfectly on target.
32:04After the bombing,
32:06we were to low altitude,
32:08look for each other,
32:09you know,
32:09to cover each other
32:10and see any MiGs,
32:11any enemy planes.
32:15And the surface-to-air missiles
32:20fired at us.
32:22We saw nothing.
32:22So then,
32:23after something like,
32:25I think,
32:26two minutes of flying
32:26at low altitude
32:27at high speed,
32:28we climbed
32:29to 40,000 feet.
32:32By the time
32:33Relic Shafir
32:34and Ilan Ramon
32:35made their run,
32:36the Iraqi guards
32:37had scrambled back
32:37to their posts
32:38and had opened fire.
32:42So you see every bullet
32:44and each one of them,
32:45you have a feeling
32:47that it's for you.
32:49And now,
32:50you're just locked
32:51into the target
32:52where you're going
32:53to put your paper
32:55and your gun sight.
32:57And all you care about
32:58is getting the airplane
33:00to the right spot
33:01to make sure
33:02that you have
33:03a good shot.
33:04And then,
33:05the release point.
33:06Two tons
33:07get released
33:08from the airplane.
33:10You feel a lot lighter
33:11and you even feel
33:13like you got hit.
33:14And then,
33:15there's a release
33:16of tension.
33:17Even though you're
33:17right above the target,
33:18you've accomplished
33:19the mission.
33:20Even if you get shot now,
33:21you've let the bombs
33:22go into the target.
33:25We were used
33:26to having raids
33:27because it was
33:28the Iran-Iraq war
33:29at the time.
33:30So every now and again,
33:31we'd have an air raid warning
33:32and planes would come over.
33:35But this was very different.
33:37There was just explosion,
33:38no warning or anything.
33:40And then suddenly,
33:41all the anti-aircraft
33:42fire went up.
33:43Of the 16 bombs
33:44that were dropped,
33:45each one had hit the target.
33:47Despite the failure
33:49of two of the bombs
33:49to detonate,
33:50the dome now lay in ruins,
33:52irrevocably destroyed.
33:56I was wondering
33:57if this is how it looks
33:58when it destroyed,
33:59because I didn't see
34:01the dome anywhere.
34:03There was a lot of smoke
34:05and it looks to me
34:06like a big hole
34:07in the ground.
34:09The combination
34:10of the large bombs,
34:12accuracy of the weapon system
34:13and the skill
34:14of the pilots,
34:15that was good enough.
34:18First thing I thought,
34:19okay, we did it.
34:21And all the fears,
34:23because what is the most fear
34:25of a pilot
34:25is not to get killed,
34:28it's to blow the mission.
34:30Anybody who's into combat
34:32knows it's getting
34:34the mission done first,
34:35everything comes in second,
34:36especially if you're
34:37in combat,
34:38a combat pilot.
34:43With the target destroyed,
34:45the pilots now focus
34:46their attention
34:46on their next task,
34:48getting back alive
34:49and avoiding
34:50what they thought
34:51would be a certain encounter
34:52with Iraqi aircraft.
34:57But the Iraqis didn't play.
34:59They didn't take off,
35:01they didn't shoot missiles,
35:03didn't fire missiles,
35:04they even didn't
35:05lock the radars on us.
35:08It was a big surprise
35:09for us
35:10that according
35:11to my knowledge,
35:12not even one
35:14same missile
35:15was launched
35:17towards us.
35:22Even after
35:23the bombing,
35:25on the way back,
35:2640,000 feet
35:27for more than,
35:28more than 90 minutes,
35:31they didn't try
35:33to intercept us.
35:40And then we start,
35:41you know,
35:42chatting over the radio
35:43and Ivory was,
35:44for the first time,
35:45I think in history,
35:45he just came over
35:46the frequency
35:47and said,
35:47guys,
35:48it's not done yet,
35:50you have to land.
35:51So shut up.
35:57Unabated by enemy
35:58Iraqi aircraft,
36:00the 8 F-16
36:01set their course
36:02for 8 Zion Air Base
36:03and what pilots hoped
36:04would be an uneventful
36:06flight back.
36:07Now,
36:08it was just a matter
36:09of having sufficient fuel
36:10for the 600-mile trip.
36:14All of us came,
36:15came back,
36:16but with,
36:17with the,
36:19not the last drop,
36:20but very,
36:21very,
36:21very close to that.
36:25Minutes after the attack,
36:27Begin received a call
36:28from General Ivory.
36:29The bombing
36:30was a complete success.
36:3290 minutes later,
36:33he received more good news.
36:34All the pilots
36:35had returned alive.
36:37Everything had gone
36:38as planned.
36:39The only miscalculation
36:40was Relic Shafir's prediction
36:42that he and Elan Ramon
36:44would not make it back alive.
36:46When I got out,
36:47Elan was in the next shelter
36:49and we just hugged
36:50for about a minute,
36:51you know,
36:52didn't say a word,
36:53we just hugged each other
36:54for about a minute.
36:55If you touch someone,
36:56you know you are okay.
36:57You're alive.
36:58It was a great moment
36:59that I cherished.
37:01I still cherish.
37:06The Iraqis were not
37:08the only ones surprised
37:09by the raid.
37:10It seemed the entire world
37:11was caught off guard.
37:14I really think it was
37:16one of the most important
37:19and most interesting
37:22military surprises
37:23of all time.
37:28I think the magnificence
37:29of the operation
37:31was reflected in the fact
37:33that it had been
37:33under consideration
37:34for more than a year
37:35and that it had not leaked
37:37and that we were
37:38not able to penetrate
37:39Israeli intelligence
37:40to gain any heads up
37:42about potentially
37:44aggressive,
37:45if you call it aggressive,
37:47action against the reactor.
37:51President Ronald Reagan,
37:52whose relationship
37:53with Menachem Begin
37:54was both confidential
37:55and contentious,
37:57was shocked
37:57when he was notified.
38:00I said,
38:01Mr. President,
38:02the Israelis
38:03have just taken out
38:03a reactor in Iraq
38:05using F-16s.
38:08He said,
38:09they did what?
38:10And I said,
38:11well,
38:11repeated myself.
38:13And he said,
38:14you know what, Dick?
38:15And I said,
38:16what's that,
38:16Mr. President?
38:17He said,
38:18boys will be boys.
38:22The following day,
38:23the National Security Council
38:25convened in the Oval Office
38:26to formulate the official
38:28U.S. response
38:29to the raid.
38:30The President went
38:32around the table
38:33and with the exception
38:34of one member
38:35of the Cabinet,
38:36there was a very strong
38:38anti-Israeli condemnation
38:41mood in the room.
38:42It was really rather
38:44vitriolic,
38:46especially the Vice President
38:48and Jim Baker.
38:48I was frankly amazed
38:50at the views
38:51that were expressed.
38:52The Vice President,
38:53George Bush,
38:55a long-time friend,
38:56was very vehement
38:57in his criticism
38:59of the Israelis,
39:02strongly urging
39:03that some sort
39:04of punitive action
39:05be taken.
39:07Jim Baker,
39:08the chief of staff
39:09of the White House,
39:10was of the very same opinion.
39:13Then we finally
39:14got around
39:16to me,
39:17and I said
39:18to the President,
39:19before this is over,
39:20we'll be on our knees
39:21thanking God
39:21Israel did what it did.
39:25As Israel had expected,
39:27the UN voted unanimously
39:28to condemn Israel
39:30for the attack.
39:31But despite demands
39:33from Vice President Bush
39:34and Arab nations
39:35for harsh sanctions
39:36against Israel,
39:37none was ever enacted.
39:40Israel has nothing
39:41to apologize for.
39:43We decided
39:44to act now,
39:46before it is too late,
39:48that we shall defend
39:49our people
39:50with all the means
39:51at our disposal.
39:53That's the rule
39:55number one
39:56of Israel,
39:57to protect
39:59and defend
40:00its territory.
40:02So they did
40:03what they had to do.
40:06According to Van Gert,
40:07many in the French government,
40:09including Jacques Chirac himself,
40:11were privately relieved
40:12that Israel
40:13had taken this action,
40:14despite his public hyperbole
40:16to the contrary.
40:18Nobody
40:19really
40:22regret
40:22that bombing.
40:24The fact that
40:24this factory
40:25was destroyed
40:28was not a bad deal
40:29for him.
40:30After all,
40:32he played his part.
40:34Saddam paid
40:36for the factory.
40:38Chirac
40:39forfeited
40:40his contract
40:40and
40:42boom.
40:43Politics aside,
40:45military experts
40:46from around the world
40:47were astounded
40:48by the boldness
40:49of the mission
40:50and the expertise
40:51in which it was executed.
40:53We got a lot
40:53of compliments
40:54by mainly
40:55military people,
40:57mainly defense people
40:58that compliments us
41:00about it,
41:00but it was
41:01unformal.
41:02Under the table,
41:03they all blessed us.
41:04They all
41:05really praised us.
41:07They really
41:07didn't believe
41:08that we could do it.
41:11Military observers
41:12were also astonished
41:13by the absolute
41:14precision of the attack.
41:16Only the main target,
41:17the reactor,
41:18was destroyed.
41:21Adjacent buildings
41:22were left
41:23completely intact.
41:24there were only
41:2511 casualties,
41:2610 Iraqi soldiers
41:27and one French technician.
41:29And most of the casualties
41:30came as a result
41:31of the artillery,
41:32fired blindly
41:33into the sky
41:34by Iraqi soldiers
41:35as they waited
41:36for their radar
41:36to warm up.
41:38Most importantly,
41:40the nuclear fuel
41:41stored nearby
41:41was undamaged,
41:43precluding any potential
41:44nuclear radioactive contamination.
41:46Well,
41:47it was superbly done
41:48and the men
41:50who did it
41:50were superb professionals.
41:52I thought it was
41:53absolutely stupendous.
41:54It was hard for me
41:55to imagine
41:57that this could have
41:58been done
41:58so expertly.
41:59It had to have been
42:00a long time
42:01in planning.
42:02It was performed
42:03brilliantly,
42:05nearly flawlessly.
42:07The condemnation
42:08of Israel
42:09was vociferous
42:10but short-lived.
42:11But the Israelis
42:12accepted the criticism
42:14in exchange
42:14for what they saw
42:15as security
42:16from certain catastrophe.
42:19Israel put an end
42:20to his nuclear ambitions.
42:23They had restored
42:24the balance
42:25of power
42:27in the Middle East
42:28and neutralized
42:30a potential
42:31very violent dictator.
42:36It would be nearly
42:37a decade
42:37before the rest
42:38of the world
42:38understood the significance
42:39of the mission.
42:40In 1991,
42:42Saddam invaded
42:43neighboring Kuwait
42:44which ultimately
42:45led to U.S. intervention
42:46and desert storm.
42:49Obviously,
42:50history would have changed
42:51because Saddam Hussein
42:52being under pressure
42:53with a possible
42:55nuclear weapon
42:56would have acted
42:58differently
42:59with a lot more
43:00boldness
43:01and I'm not sure
43:04that the United States
43:05would have acted
43:06the way it did
43:06knowing that he has
43:08that kind of capability.
43:10After the victory
43:11in desert storm,
43:12David Ivory,
43:13then the Israeli ambassador
43:14to the United States,
43:16found out just how much
43:17the U.S. military
43:18echoed those sentiments.
43:20Dick Cheney
43:21wrote a letter
43:22to David Ivory
43:24and it was a photograph
43:25from the satellite
43:28of the destroyed
43:30reactor site
43:31and below it,
43:32Cheney had written,
43:34if it weren't for you
43:35a blue desert storm
43:36wouldn't have been
43:37a success.
43:40We had felt at the time
43:43that we had the burden
43:46of keeping up
43:47the security
43:48of the Jewish people,
43:50not just the Israeli nation.
43:51And that was a genuine feeling
43:53that I think ran through
43:55our minds
43:55from day one
43:56of flight school.
43:57So it wasn't just a mission,
43:59it was a destiny.
44:01To destroy a strategic point
44:03or asset of the enemy,
44:06to come back safely,
44:08to do it without collateral damage,
44:10this is a wonderful example
44:12of what you can achieve
44:14with air power.
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