1966.11.13 - Samu Incident

Sources

1. Ben-Ami, Shlomo. Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy. Cary: Oxford University Press USA - OSO, 2007.
2. “Samu incident.” Wikipedia. Accessed May 5th, 2024.

Belligerents

1. Israel
   1. Prime Minister - Levi Eshkol
   2. 400 troops
   3. 40 half-tracks
   4. 10 tanks
   5. 4 fighter jets

---

1. Jordan
   1. King - Hussein
   2. 100 troops
   3. 20 convoy vehicles
   4. 8 fighter jets

Casualties and losses

1. Israel
   1. 1 killed
   2. 10 wounded
   3. 1 fighter jet damaged

---

1. Jordan
   1. 16 killed
   2. 54 wounded
   3. 15 vehicles destroyed
   4. 1 fighter jet destroyed

Location

• In the Jordanian controlled West Bank, in the village of Samu.

Causes

Events

Ben-Ami, Shlomo. Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy. (p. 96)

Nor was Jordan spared Israel’s policy of swift and disproportionate retaliations. Such was the case of the Samu Operation in November 1966. After insistently pointing at Damascus as the source of all evil, Israel suddenly and massively retaliated against Jordan in response to a local, relatively minor incident. A typical case of the feebleness of the politicians when confronted with the army’s tendency to dictate the scope and nature of military operations in a way that sometimes created new and unplanned political realities, Samu was a disproportionate operation that stood in stark contradiction to Israel’s official commitment to the stability of Hussein’s regime. Israel publicly humiliated and betrayed an Arab leader so far careful to stay aloof from the war rhetoric and practices of his Syrian neighbours in the north, and pushed him into the fold of the Arab war camp.

Outcome

Important Notes