James R. Schlesinger served as the Secretary of Defense under President [[Richard M. Nixon]] and later President [[Gerald R. Ford]]. During the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]], [[Henry A. Kissinger]] told Schlesinger that his goal was to "let [[Israel]] come out ahead, but bleed." Schlesinger noted that [[Israel]]'s ammunition consumption rate was gauged for a seven-day war, reflecting [[Washington D.C.]]'s confidence in the Israeli military. However, Kissinger's sudden and massive push for resupply led Schlesinger to conclude that Israeli use of a nuclear weapon was not out of the question, and that there was an assumption that [[Israel]] had a few nukes and might use them if there was a collapse.[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 17.