six day war

A detailed Summary of six day war

The six-day, Arab-Israeli War of 1967, was an important event in modern Middle East history. This paper will analyze the causes of this "definitive event" which include: military and diplomatic encounters, terrorist attacks against Israel, blockades of Israel's ports by Arabs, and most importantly the impact of Russian/Communist and Western policies and participation in the region. The Israeli's had had a strong victory against the Arab states in 1956, and this had strengthened their self-assurance However, the Six-Day War in June 1967 demonstrated to the Israeli's that watchfulness was still essential. The success of Israel in this war was beyond all normal expectations. Israel went to war on June 5 for sheer survival. On that date, Israelis crossed into the Sinai and won the war in less than a week. The Israeli Cabinet had by then determined that nothing would come of peaceful efforts to end aggressions being committed against the small nation. Israelis were certain that the Arabs were preparing to commit mass murder, and they acted first.

It is difficult to pinpoint any one event that made hostilities inevitable. The closing of the Straits of Tiran and the attempted strangulation of the southern port of Eilat made war

The Russians at this time provided unlimited diplomatic support for the Egyptian blockade of the Suez Canal aimed at Israeli ships, for Syrian efforts to divert the headwaters of the Jordan, and for Syrian attacks along the de-militarized zone. This was in part a reflection of Moscow's concern for the demise of Socialist regimes elsewhere: in Algeria, Indonesia, and Ghana. Unrest was mounting against the government in Syria, and Moscow assumed that Washington was manipulating events behind the scenes.

At the same time, Nasser was being shaken in his certainty toward his policy. While Egypt and the other Arab states were having difficulties, Israel developed its capacities so fast that the gap 'in the relative size of the gross national product of Egypt and Israel war reduced from a ratio of four to one in 1949 to one and a half to one in 1967. Time had worked in favor of Israel, but Nasser had been saying time would operate in favor of Egypt. He was now aware that Egypt would never achieve a sufficient margin of conventional military superiority to win a decisive offensive war, and this required a change of strategy if Egypt was to maintain its objective of overcoming Israel.

2. Sachar, Howard M., A History Of Israel. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1976.

One factor influencing Nasser was Egypt's decline "in standing in the Arab world and the apparent collapse of the drive for Arab unity, and these were related 'in turn to the economic difficulties at home, the failure to win the Yemen War or bring it to an honorable conclusion, and the loss of maneuvering room in the international political arena as a result of the decline in the role of the nonaligned countries. If a dramatic move could be taken against Israel, and particularly if that move were taken to bail Syria out of a situation they could not handle themselves, Egypt might be put back in the Arab limelight and Nasser restored to a position of prestige and stature leading to political benefits.

The false information provided by Russia to Egypt can be seen as an attempt to bring this threat to its future. Egypt's armed forces were immediately put on Maximum alert, and combat units were marched into Sinai. The Egyptian press printed the explanation that there were fears Israel would attack Syria, and that Egypt would then enter the battle if this happened. Israel naturally reacted to these preparations for war in Egypt by calling in reserves for active duty and mobilizing her own troops. On May 22, Nasser announced that he was closing the Gulf of Aquaba to Israeli ships and to all ships carrying "strategic material" to Israel.

The blockade of the Straits annihilated Israel's only remaining benefit from the earlier Sinai campaign, and the nation was suddenly faced with almost the identical circumstances that it had faced 'in 1956: the same vulnerable borders, the danger of strangulation, a hostile foe massed in strength on her very doorstep, and a wavering international community that showed no inclination to resist Arab aggression. In 1956, the French and British acted very differently, for now they were urging that Israel take no action at all. After May 15--the date when large numbers of Egyptian troops were moved into the Sinai-4he Israelis waited for three weeks as the crisis grew and various diplomats did what they could to end the blockade and avert war. Tension and rising anger gripped Israel, and one former supporter after another deserted this small nation. The Arabs argued that the actions taken by Nasser were necessary to forestall Israeli aggression, and they also claimed that Nasser, having achieved a position of strength, was trying to de-escalate the situation. The Israelis could find no evidence of this, and instead it seemed that the Arabs were moving toward a "total way' to destroy Israel. Jordan and Iraq signed military pacts with Egypt, and Kuwait, Morocco, and Algeria promised to send reinforcements. The feeling was that the Arab

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Category: History