Israel? The Six-Day War!

The Events Leading to War:

The run up to the war has always been debated, with several accusing Israel of starting the war in an attempt to grab land and create difficulties for the Palestinians.  In fact much of this rhetoric is used to paint Israel in negative colours and to over simplify a withdrawal as ending a conflict that existed long before the 1967 war.  You may ask, “Why did Israel go to war?”  Israel firmly believed it was just a matter of time before an Invasion from Egypt, who had massed troops at the border.  Rhetoric out of the Arab states had become increasingly hostile, and UN Peacekeepers had been told to leave Egypt.  In addition Syria was working on diverting the Jordan River.  Egypt had to decided to prevent ships headed for Israel’s Eilat Port from go thru the Straits of Tiran.  It was an extremely hostile situation; however it was the Arab’s refusal to accept a permanent and legitimate Jewish state in the Middle East that was the root of problem.  In fact uncovered documents from that era suggest Egypt had a firm military plan to invade Israel in an attempt to remove the state it had failed to kill in 1948.

Thus after much consideration and heated debate, the Israeli Government authorized a surprise attack on Egypt.  Being wary of having two fronts it did not plan to attack Syria.  However, the Egyptians convinced Jordan and Syria to join the war.  In addition Iraq and Saudi Arabia provided support for the conflict by sending forces.  The resulting defeat was a humiliation for the Arabs and put the Palestinians, including East Jerusalem, under Israeli control. 

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2 Comments

  1. If your neighbors want to kill you, it does help if you strike first. Thank you for explaining that Geo-political thinking of 1967 was clearer than today’s news-mucking-up.
    Jeff

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