Threat of Chemical Attack The Jerusalem Post Customer Service Center can be contacted with any questions or requests: Sign up for The Jerusalem Post Premium Plus for just $5, Upgrade your reading experience with an ad-free environment and exclusive content, Copyright © 2021 Jpost Inc. All rights reserved. During the 1991 Gulf war, Iraq fired dozens of Scud rockets into Israel, which did not retaliate, out of consideration for U.S. efforts to maintain an Arab coalition against Saddam. [2][3] The strategic and political goal of the Iraqi campaign was to provoke an Israeli military response and potentially jeopardize the United States-led coalition against Iraq, which had full backing and/or extensive contributions from an overwhelming majority of the states of the Muslim world and would have suffered immense diplomatic and material losses if Muslim-majority states rescinded their support due to the political situation of the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Subtitle: Iraq's military commanders seemingly took their missiles to the point of firing against Israel on Thursday, February 22, thus triggering an intelligence alert and sending forces against Iraqi targets. Additionally, the war would have serious consequences for Palestinians living in the Gulf and for the international standing of the PLO leadership. And the prototype for all of the above was Saddam Hussein’s Scuds on Israel. Amatzia Baram. Throughout the war, Israel provided clandestine … His rockets had a CEP of more than two kilometres. The 1991 Iraqi rocket attacks on Israel were part of an Iraqi missile campaign against Israel during the First Gulf War. Iraq launched a second missile attack against Tel Aviv this morning, military officials said. Documents and tapes recounting discussions that took place from 1978 to 2003 between Saddam Hussein and his aides reveal promises that have been fulfilled and predictions that missed the mark. While occupying Kuwait , which Iraq had invaded five months earlier, Iraqi forces fired approximately 42 Scud missiles into Israel from 17 January to 23 February 1991. Indeed, virtually no one even remembers Saddam Hussein, or has any recollection of the Iraqi dictator’s subsequent trial and punishment. By MICHAEL OMER-MAN. It should be noted that in the aftermath of the 2003 United States invasion of Iraq and the seizing of numerous Iraqi documents, it was found that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was planning an attack on Israel in the early 1980’s. The British in the 1930s built the Mosul–Haifa oil pipeline from Western Iraq through the British-ruled Emirate of Transjordan then to Haifa, in Mandatory Palestine. While Saddam hoped that acquiring nuclear weapons would provide regional prestige and security from foreign attack, his desire for the bomb was also thoroughly wound up with his revisionist aims regarding Israel. The IDF was concerned at the availability to Saddam Hussein of considerable quantities of Russian-made Scud missiles with a range of 600 kms., against which no effective countermeasure was as yet in Israel's arsenal; particularly if those missiles were to … Al Hussein or al-Husayn (Arabic: الحسين) is the designation of an Iraqi short-range ballistic missile.The missile was the result of upgrading the Soviet made Scud in order to achieve a longer range. These barbarous hangings were then justified by Baghdad on the basis of fully concocted charges … Israel also felt killing Saddam would reduce the risk of further missile attacks, said Danny Yatom, a former top aide to Yitzhak Rabin. Iraq, busy with the Iran–Iraq War, did not respond. Barak told Israel Television on Friday night he normally opposed assassinating national leaders, but Saddam, who had fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel in the 1991 Gulf War, was an exception. While occupying Kuwait, which Iraq had invaded five months earlier, Iraqi forces fired approximately 42 Scud missiles into Israel from 17 January to 23 February 1991. [4], https://mfa.gov.il/mfa/aboutisrael/history/pages/the%20gulf%20war%20-%201991.aspx Israel ministry of foreign affairs. Shomron and his deputy gave a cool analysis of Saddam Hussein's moves. The weapon was widely used by the Iraqi Army during the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War of 1991. This diplomatic effort was capped by his firing of 39 Al-Hussein (modified SCUD missiles) into Israel during of the Gulf War. command structure ... Commanded that Saddam Hussein withdraw all of his forces from Kuwait by January 15, 1991 After attacking Israel in the 1991 Gulf War, Hussein became fond of saying that the Iraqi people represented 22 million missiles against Israel. This article on military history is a stub. Over the course of 17 days, Iraq fired 39 Scud Missiles at the highly populated coastal cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The 1991 Iraqi rocket attacks on Israel was a missile strike campaign on Israel from 17 January to 28 February 1991, by Iraq in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation during the Gulf War . Israel … Iraq has attacked two Israeli cities with Scud missiles, prompting fears that Israel may be drawn into the Gulf War. The 1991 Iraqi rocket attacks on Israel were part of an Iraqi missile campaign against Israel during the First Gulf War. The obvious motive for the missile attacks was to embroil Israel, break up the coalition, reduce pressure on his forces and possibly turn them westward, towards a target which would be considered legitimate in the eyes of many Arabs. During the thick of the 1991 Gulf War, anti-Iraqi coalition forces were mounting some 2,000 air sorties against Iraqi targets in the Middle East. In response, Iraq fired salvos of ground-to-ground Iraq launched a second missile attack against Tel Aviv this morning, military officials said. After the end of his war with Iran, Saddam Hussein had a huge, battlewise army sitting idle and his threats to "burn half of Israel" had to be taken seriously. Updated 4:12 AM ET, Tue January 14, 2020 Especially scud missile attacks. Fortunately, only six landed in … It turned out that he was wrong, and so were many people who thought that Israel could deter Saddam Hussein from firing his missiles against Israel. An estimated 147 Israelis were killed. Military action was taken by Israel when they bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981, citing that Saddam Hussein might use it to develop nuclear weapons. The war had further-reaching consequences than just Iraq’s control over Gulf oil fields, however. After Baghdad and Teheran declared a cease-fire in 1988, the Scuds were trained on Israel when President Saddam Hussein of Iraq stepped up his threats against that nation. Immediately after the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948, Arab armies, including those of Iraq, invaded the former Mandate Palestine territory, and the oil pipeline to Haifa was shut down, and the pip…