Nadene Goldfoot
The 1967 Six-Day War (June 5–10, 1967) was a brief, pivotal conflict between Israel and its neighboring Arab states—Egypt, Jordan, and Syria—that dramatically reshaped the Middle East and held deep religious and historical significance for world Jewry.
It was pre-ceded by a building up of tension. Over 2 years of sabotage activities inside Israel and border incidents,; mostly done by Syrians, who were interested in involving the other Arab states in a further war with Israel. So Egypt began moving its army into the Sinai Peninsula on May 15, 1967. Nasser demanded the removal of UN troops who had been posted along the Gaza Strip and at Sharm e-Sheikh and when the UN secretary-general, U Thant, immediately acceded, Nasser decreed a blockage of the Straits of Tiran so that no Israel shipping would be permitted to go to the port of Elath.
Israel inaugurated diplomatic activity to try and prevent the situation from deteriorating into war, but Nasser moved 100,000 men and 1,000 tanks into Sinai while the other Arab sates rapidly made their preparations and coordinated their moves for a unified attack on Israel, including an agreement between Nasser and King Hussein of Jordan.
The Arab world was seized with war hysteria and in a preemptive move, Israel struck on June 5th. The Israel Air Force went into action, attacking mainly grounded Egyptian planes, over 300 of which were destroyed in 3 hours. Similar attacks almost wiped out the Syrian and Jordanian air forces.
At the same time, Israel troops attacked Egyptian positions along the Gaza Strip and in the Sinai Desert. By June 8, Israel had overrun the Gaza Strip and the entire Sinai peninsula as far west as the Suez Canal and as far south as Sharm e Sheikh.
A few hours after the fighting had begun, Jordan attacked Israel, despite the message sent to Hussein by the Israel prime minister, Levi Eshkol that if she remained out of the war, she would not be attacked. The Israeli section of Jerusalem as well as Israel proper and border new Jewish neighborhoods were heavily shelled by the Jordanians.
So, late of June 5th, Israeli troops began their moves against Jordanian positions and in a pincer mover, starting from the Latrun salient, cut off Jordanian Jerusalem (including the Old City) which fell on June 7th. The entire area W. of the Jordan river, including Bethlehem, Hebron, and Nablus fell to the Israel army.
Emotional scenes were witnessed when the Israel troops first reached the Western Wall, access to which had been barred to Jews for almost 20 years. (So close-yet so far).
Precursors: In May 1967, Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran, massed troops in the Sinai Peninsula, and formed defense pacts with Jordan and Syria, leading Israel to launch a preemptive military strike.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Strip was under Egyptian control, with harsh military rule imposed on local residents.
Outcome: Israel defeated the combined Arab forces in six days, capturing the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and East Jerusalem (including the Old City). For the first time in 19 years, Jewish people gained access to the Old City of Jerusalem and could pray at the Western Wall (the Kotel), Judaism's holiest site.
Provoking facts:
First, in June 1967, there was no state of Palestine. It didn’t exist and never had. Its creation, proposed by the UN in 1947, was rejected by the Arab world because it also meant the establishment of a Jewish state alongside.
Second, the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem were in Jordanian hands. Violating solemn agreements, Jordan denied Jews access to their holiest places in eastern Jerusalem. To make matters still worse, they desecrated and destroyed many of those sites.
Third, the Arab world could have created a Palestinian state in the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip any day of the week. They didn't. There wasn't even discussion about it. And Arab leaders, who today profess such attachment to eastern Jerusalem, rarely, if ever, visited. It was viewed as an Arab backwater.
Resource:
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, pp. 870-873
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