I recall reading at some point that during the Yom Kippur war, and at other times thereafter, Israel threatened to launch nuclear weapons against targets in Europe and elsewhere if it appeared that they were going to lose a war against their Arab neighbors.
Is there any truth to these claims? If not, what was Israel's nuclear weapon policy like during the 70s and 80s?
According to Seymour Hersh that was indeed part of the nuclear strategy of Israel.
He claims that Israels MRBMs were aimed at Soviet targets in the Caucasus region and that the threat of launching them was supposed to pressure the US into providing military assistance in 1973 which Nixon was hesitant to do for the first two days of the war.
Remember this is Hersh we are talking about, so please take that into account.