The Six-Day War
Israel, pushed to the brink by
Egypt, declares war.
By Eli Barnavi
In the spring of 1967,
Israel was threatened with annihilation, as her Arab neighbors began a series
of strategic moves designed to destroy the Jewish state. American Jewry,
fearing that they might once again serve as spectators to genocide, displayed
unprecedented philanthropic, emotional, and physical support for Israel.
Israel, in turn, enacted a swift victory, demonstrating to the world the
strength and staying power of the Jewish state. The following article, which
details the events of the Six-Day War, is reprinted with permission from A
Historical Atlas of the Jewish People published
by Schocken Books.
In the spring of 1957, the Israel Defense Forces withdrew
from the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip occupied since the Suez Campaign
of the previous year. The United Nations sent an international Emergency Force
(UNEF) to the Egyptian‑Israeli border and to Sharm el‑Sheikh. The
great powers gave Israel assurances concerning the freedom of navigation in the
Gulf of Eilat, and the government of Israel made it clear that any infringement
of that freedom would be regarded as a casus
belli.
All these arrangements, however, did not secure peace in the
region. The terror‑reprisal cycle continued on several fronts. The Fatah [the Palestinian group dedicated
to obtaining Palestinian independence, founded by Yassir Arafat in 1951]went on sending its men from Jordan to
carry out terrorist operations within Israel's borders. Syrian artillery on the
Golan Heights frequently shelled settlements in the Upper Galilee and the
Jordan Valley, forcing the Israeli air force to retaliate in operations that
often turned into mini‑wars. Moreover, although the Egyptian border remained
relatively quiet, as Egypt was involved since 1962 in a civil war in Yemen,
[Egyptian President] Gamal Abdul Nasser made no secret of his intention to
destroy the State of Israel at the first opportune moment.
In the spring of 1967 it seemed as though that moment had
come. In three weeks and by five impressive initiatives, Nasser managed to
embroil the entire Middle East in a major war. First, Egyptian forces in the
Sinai were considerably reinforced, under the pretext of coming to Syria's
assistance. Then Nasser demanded the evacuation of U.N. forces from Sinai and
the Gaza Strip, and U Thant, the U.N. Secretary General, immediately acceded to
his request. On May 20, Egyptian forces occupied Sharm el‑Sheikh, closing
the Straits of Tiran two days later. While Egyptian propaganda was proclaiming
the imminent and inevitable destruction of Israel, the massive reinforcements
of troops along the borders with Israel brought the numbers of Egyptian
soldiers to 100,000 and tanks to 900. Once again, after ten years, Israel was
directly confronted by Egyptian forces along the frontier. Finally, Nasser
orchestrated a great Arab alliance: in addition to the Egyptian‑Syrian
military agreement of November 1966, he now signed pacts with Jordan (May 30) and
Iraq (June 4). Contingents arrived from other Arab countries, such as Kuwait
and Algeria.
As Nasser had foreseen, Israel was forced to respond: the
threat of annihilation could not be ignored. Accepting the closure of the
Straits would have been interpreted as a sign of weakness and capitulation to
Egyptian aggression; the economic strain of prolonged mobilization and the
psychological effect of suspense and fear would have been unbearable. After a
"waiting period," requested by United States President Lyndon Johnson
who wished to reach a peaceful resolution of the conflict, a "national
unity" government was formed in Israel on June 1.
Bolstered by the support of world Jewry and the sympathy
voiced by western public opinion, Israel attacked on the morning of June 5. Six
days later, at the cost of 676 lives and over 3000 wounded, the Arab coalition
formed against Israel was routed. The Israeli army occupied Egyptian Sinai, the
Syrian Golan, the Jordanian West Bank, and Arab Jerusalem. The Egyptian and the
Syrian governments accepted a cease‑fire agreement and U.N. observers
were posted along the Suez Canal and on the Golan Heights. Nasser announced his
resignation, but withdrew it in the face of mass demonstrations demanding his
return. In his resignation speech he made clear the part the Soviets played in
bringing on the war.
In the brief history of the
State of Israel, the Six‑Day War constitutes amajor turning point. This swift and total victory saved the
Zionist entity from destruction, ensured its physical existence, and
disillusioned those of her enemies who had hoped that the Jewish State was just
a passing phenomenon. On the other hand, these densely‑populated
territories regarded as "liberated" by some Israelis and as
"occupied" by others, created a whole series of insurmountable
problems--political, social, economic, moral and religious--unresolved to this
day. The future of the State of Israel, its character and its place among
nations, now depends on their solution.
Eli Barnavi is the
director of the Morris Curiel Center for International Studies and a Professor
of Jewish History at Tel Aviv University. This article is reprinted with
permission from A
Historical Atlas of the Jewish People edited by Eli Barnavi and published by Schocken Books. © 1992 by
Hachette Litterature.
