Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. His administration, along with that of Richard Nixon, maintained a warm relationship with Israel, a stark contrast to the later approach of the Carter administration. Ford's precedent was to tightly restrict access to high-quality KH-11 imagery, even to close allies like Great Britain.¹

In late 1976, at the end of his tenure as President, Henry A. Kissinger casually mentioned to Hermann F. Eilts, the American ambassador to Egypt, a concern that the Israelis might go nuclear if they didn't receive military equipment quickly. This occurred during a final meeting where Kissinger brought up the 1973 Yom Kippur War again.²