The Long Wait:
Encamped since October 1982 within striking distance of Nabulus, the Warsaw Pact forces and what little was left of the Israeli Free Regiments awaited response from higher powers to their requirements for more men, machines and supplies. A negligible supply of spare parts and rations had been trickling to them, but they needed much more to mobilise properly again.
Desertion and a growing apathy among the troops had grown to become very serious. Mostly this was due to the fact that they no longer knew concretely who they were fighting. The Israeli military had all but ceased to operate as a cohesive fighting force and the bulk of its membership and equipment had been absorbed into the growing number of paramilitary groups in the north of the country. Clearly, the strategies used to fight an organised military could not effectively be used to combat insurgent groups.
The commanders themselves had trouble keeping their own morale. With the knowledge that the UN had established a clear and internationally recognised frontier dividing the north and south of the country; the goal of gaining any meaningful victory over Israel had gone from being exceedingly difficult to being outright impossible regardless of any new strategy they might devise.
They waited, they could do little else until their request for resupply was fulfilled.
A Darkness at Home:
Across the Warsaw Pact nations, citizens were tiring of seeing their men return home dead, maimed and psychologically broken.
Demonstrations had been staged in almost all of the countries which had troops in Israel calling for an immediate pull out of all Warsaw Pact forces from the area. Some also called for the complete deportation of all Israelis living in asylum in the Warsaw Pact.
Many people in the Warsaw Pact nations felt a sense of betrayal. That the Israelis, whom they had helped rebuild and rearm, had turned on them. Many buildings, neighborhoods and businesses that could be connected to Israelis were vandalised across the Warsaw Pact nations. Actual acts of physical violence against the Israelis themselves were relatively low compared to the property damage and general social alienation they suffered. Still, a clear message was being sent that they had largely worn out their welcome.
Through a variety of international treaties and agreements, the majority of Israelis in the Warsaw Pact spent the mid 1980s relocating to points outside of it. This included a large number which moved directly from East Austria to West Austria.
Western Worries:
In both West Austria and Italy, the influx of Israelis migrating from the Warsaw Pact was just the latest piece of ammunition that the increasingly uneasy public in both countries could use to further question the wisdom of their countries getting so deeply involved with matters in not only Israel, but the Middle East in general.
The Israeli act of adapting West Austrian technology to military purposes without any form of permission was, of course, a lingering thorn in the side of West Austria. A similar feeling of betrayal gripped West Austrians over that matter as was currently gripping the East Austrians over matters in northern Israel.
Such sentiments in West Austria had been somewhat eased by the establishment of the line between northern and southern Israel and that southern Israelis were working very cooperatively with the UN forces and showed a clear interest in not letting their end of the country spiral into the chaos that the north had become. However, Israel was still unstable; That much could not be denied.
Military aid to Egypt had been controversial as well; the act of providing a recently Soviet friendly nation with the still new Panavia Tornado was irresponsible in the eyes of many. Providing the most advanced strike aircraft in western Europe to a nation that was an ally to the Warsaw Pact scarcely a year before was seen as very questionable indeed by many. There were notable protests in Great Britain and Germany as many in both countries felt, as partner nations in the Tornado, more should have been done to prevent the sale of it to Egypt.
Demonstrations against further aid to Israel or Egypt were becoming very routine in West Austria and Italy. The demonstrations were usually centred on military instalations where southern Israeli military personnel were being trained on western equipment in preparation for the establishment of a formal military and government in that region.
The west was taking a vested interest in the successful independent statehood of southern Israel and no amount of protest was going to keep that vision from being realised.
Paving the Road:
August 1, 1983 saw the establishment and international recognition of southern Israel as the North Sinai Protectorate with Dimona as its provisional capital.
The first stone in the road to statehood had been laid. Under UN supervision, a new nation’s road to independence would hopefully be a smooth one.
With West Austrian and Italian Tornados constantly patroling the northern buffer zone and Jordanian Mirage F.1s patroling the skies overhead; all seemed well and safe for the new nation to gestate and eventually be born.
The air base at Beersheba was gradually being refitted to handle the maintenance facilities for the Marchetti SF.260 and Macchi MB.339 aircraft that would become the workhorses of the new nation’s air force training academy while the naval port at Gaza was systematically being rebuilt to accept western ships.
All but the hardiest of paramilitary cells had been eradicated from southern Israel. They had been hunted down mercilessly and their members given the option to renounce the insurgent way of life and serve in the newly established national militia or be sent to prison indefinitely.
The new nation would stop at nothing to show the world at large that it could be trusted.
However, controversy would touch it again more than once on the way to self determination.
The Salzburg Summit:
In late September of 1983 a meeting with many delegates from around western Europe as well as delgations from Egypt, Jordan and the newly founded North Sinai Protectorate; was held in Salzburg.
The meeting was to officially recognise the existance of the North Sinai Protectorate at the international level and lay a firm foundation for it’s security and eventual independent statehood.
The highlight of the event was seen by many to be the signing of a tri-national Sinai Alliance between Egypt, Jordan and North Sinai. Given the tensions that were known to pervade the Middle East, many proclaimed a profound sense of disbelief at what they were witnessing as not simply a non aggression treaty, but a full alliance was signed.
After the signing of the Sinai Alliance agreement, Egyptian and Jordanian delegates cited the importance of stabilising and rebuilding their economies, which had seen significant negative side effects from the continued conflict in Israel. Ultimately it was felt, by those two nations at least, that harbouring ancient hostilities was less important than tending to modern needs and that it was better all around to have good relations with North Sinai if at all possible.
Needless to say, the alliance did not at all sit well with other Arab League nations and Egyptians and Jordanians in those nations were advised to leave quickly. In light of the high degree of foreign presence in North Sinai and the protectorate’s obvious willingness to cooperate with those helping it; the Arab League eventually, if begrudgingly, accepted the Sinai Alliance.
Not everyone in Europe was happy about North Sinai. Many Israelis living in asylum were very vocal in their objection to Israel being split and having part of it recognised as a different nation. Many others had consigned themselves to the belief that the revival of Israel in modern times had been a pipe dream and should be accepted as such.
North Sinai had been internationally recognised and accepted by all of western Europe and the bulk of the Middle East. The UN at large was set to do so shortly after.
The Berlin Bargain:
North Sinai spent the Autumn of 1983 seeing in the official establishment of its own domestic armed services and the stationing of equipment and vehicles.
The first groups of SF.260 and MB.339 aircraft had taken up residence at Beersheba after their crews had completed training in Italy.
Elat had seen the arrival of the first Gazelle helicopters and crews freshly trained from France and were awaiting the first Puma helicopters, due in december 1983 and January 1984.
Further negotions for the arming of the North Sinai Armed Services (NSAS) would be held in November of 1983 in Berlin. The location was rather a surprise to many. Even more surprising was that it was requested by North Sinai themselves.
Many speculated that the location was chosen out of an interest in resumed war reparations being given to Israel by Germany; those reparations had been officially suspended due to the continued turmoil in Israel.
However, North Sinai delegates categorically denied any such intent to revive the reparations and requested Germany as the location to show the world that North Sinai was a forward looking land with equally forward looking people. The North Sinai delegation came to the table in Berlin with the slogan: “We cannot change the past, so let’s built the future together”. To underline the sincerity of that slogan, North Sinai officially excused Germany from any further war reparations to them.
The Berlin talks largely centred on the transport and surveilance needs of the NSAS and to a smaller degree on land force requirements. The tactical transport requirement was a forgone conclusion; NSAS crews had been training in Italy on the G.222 transport. The German offer of ex-Luftwaffe C-160 Transalls was all but symbolic in the procedings. The deal for refurbished Italian G.222s was made official in Berlin.
The surveilance requirement was not so clear cut. North Sinai had been approached by Spain’s Casa and their C.212 aircraft in both transport and surveilance platforms. The had also been approached by Brazil’s Embraer, who were hoping to find a new market for their EMB 110 Bandeirante transport and it’s maritime patrol offshoot, the EMB 111 Bandierulha.
The Embraer aircraft narrowly beat out the Casa when Embraer included the construction of assembly and maintenance depot facilities for the NSAS aircraft in North Sinai itself. The employment potential of such facilities was too good to pass up.
For Germany, the payoff to hosting the event came in the form of a sizable selection of land vehicles, both softskin and armor, of German origin taken on as the nucleus of the NSAS land forces. This included the Leopard 2 MBT, which was seen as a better alternative to second hand Chieftains from West Austria or second hand M60s from Italy. NSAS could have a modern MBT without waiting for the Challenger or Ariete MBTs still in development.
Scepticism and optimism had filled the air in equal measures at the beginning of the Berlin talks; optimism and relief were the prevailing emotions at the the end.
The Road Ahead:
According to various plans and agreements, North Sinai would make the transition from protectorate to independent state in September 1987.
While seen by some as a wildly optimistic short time, North Sinai was determined to do it’s part to see that date met.
The provisional government had been marketing North Sinai to the rest of the world as meeting place for east and west, eager for investors, foreign companies, tourists and a potential host venue for international events of all sorts.
Some in the international community felt that North Sinai’s ambitions were beyond it’s resources. However, there was a queue of nations willing to help the fledgling nation. The willingness of Embraer to place facilities there was evidence of that. Additionally, the port city of Elat was starting to see some popularity with tourists. As tourism was starting to pick up again in Egypt and Jordan, people were taking notice of Elat along the way.
Italy and West Austria had committed to keep a military presence in the area at least until statehood could be established. NSAS had yet to be granted access to tactical combat jets of any sort, the Italian and Austrian Tornados would be tending to that requirement for the time being.
A Thousand Nails:
As the world seemed to be rejoicing, or at least observing with guarded optimism, the development of North Sinai; an event in the embattled north of the former Israel in the following days would put everything back on edge.
Mid morning of December 1, 1983 heard the echo of jet fghters across north Israeli skies. This was unusal as the air war had essentially ended. More unusual was that the noise was coming from the area still not controlled by Warsaw Pact forces when general belief was that the air element of the Israeli forces was no longer existant. Surely insurgent cells would have no way to bring combat jets into operation.
The Warsaw Pact force had made their way very close to Nabulus. They had seen enough resupply to make some meaningful progress, though morale was still low.
Syrian based radar station were reporting a large number of aircraft moving quickly towards Nabulus. The Warsaw Pact forces manned their anti aircraft guns while fighters were scrammbled from Syria and points further north in Israel.
Aboard a battered Antonov An-12 holding station high over the Israeli held territory, a large crew stood by at their monitor screens in the modified cargo hold. As the mass of fighters cruised high and neared Nabulus, the crew’s order was given.
En masse, the unmanned and heaily explosive laden MiG-21s were directed downward at the Warsaw Pact troops from the safety of the Antonov.
As the news of the event quickly rippled across the world and the footage of the ensuing carnage went along with it; many demonstrations in Warsaw Pact countries turned into full scale riots. The public demanded their troops home immediately.
The event did cast a clear shadow of scepticism across North Sinai that would simply have to be lived with for some time.
With Moscow’s consent, the Warsaw Pact force were quickly withdrawn from northern Israel, leaving what was left of that country and it’s people to their own devices.
West Austria would be the first of many called upon to send peace keeping troops into the north on the UN’s behalf.