dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman) (09/06/83)
Yes, Israel did shoot down a Libyan civilian plane over the Sinai
in 1973. The plane was heading towards Israel, and for some reason
did not respond to the usual instructions from the military planes which
signalled it to land. It was scheduled to Cairo.
At the time, the Black September terrorist arm of the PLO was quite
active. (The Munich Olympics were only about nine months before.)
One of the plans which Black September was actively working on was
to take a plane, fill it with explosives and crash it into the middle
of Tel Aviv in order to kill as many people as possible.
"... as a bleak sandstorm was raging over the Sinai, a
huge aircraft suddenly penetrated into Israeli-controlled
airspace. It was identified as a Libyan aeroplane. The Israeli
air force radioed stern warnings to the pilots, and two fighter
planes took off immediately, signalling them to turn back; but
the plane stubbornly continued its flight towards Israel.
Those were the days when the Israelis expected at any moment
that an explosive-laden Black September plane would attempt to
crash in the centre of Tel Aviv. As the Libyan aircraft kept on
its course, the air force pilots were ordered to shoot it down.
Which they did.
"From the smoldering debris, spread across the barren desert,
Israeli soldiers recovered 104 scorched bodies. They were all
civilians. There had been not an ounce of explosives on board.
The plane had been a genuine Libyan airliner, on its way to
Cairo. It had been blown off course by the desert storm. Until
the last second the pilots had believed that they were approaching
Cairo, and even mistook the Israeli Phantom fighters for Egyptian
Migs which were escorting them to the airport.
"The world was deeply shocked; no apologies from Israel could
erase the tremendous grief that swept Libya..."
Bar-Zohar & Haber, "The Quest for the Red Prince",
William Morrow & Co., New York, 1983, pp. 178-9.
I seem to remember the newspapers being pretty upset at the time,
although not as much as in the KAL case. It's possible Israel acted
too hastily; on the other hand, given the atmosphere at the time,
the very real danger to Israeli citizens' life, and the fact the
plane came from Libya (Black September's strongest supporter, run
then as now by Qaddafi), the reaction is understandable.
I don't know whether Israel offered compensation to Libya;
I doubt it would have been accepted.
Incidentally, the book quoted from is the story of Israeli
Intelligence's search for Ali Hassan Salameh, the leader of Black
September, and makes excellent reading.
Dave Sherman
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