The late King Hussein of Jordan called for an Israeli airstrike on Syrian troops supporting a 1970 Palestinian uprising against his rule, according to British documents declassified Tuesday.
Cut off from direct contact with the United States and Israel during the two-week Black September uprising, Hussein sent a plea for air support via the British Embassy in Amman, according to a summary of a Sept. 21, 1970, Cabinet meeting.
It was the only known instance of an Arab country requesting an Israeli military attack on a fellow Arab nation. The plea for Israeli help during the two-week civil war was reported at the time by Israeli and other regional radio stations. Government officials and the late king himself had refused to confirm or deny the radio reports at the time. Israel apparently never carried out the request.
