THE INTERVENTION OF WORLD POWERS IN ISRAEL'S WARS - II

 

3. SIX DAY WAR

President Eisenhower did not honour his assurance that Israel could rely on the US to ensure freedom of navigation in the Tiran Straits and Gulf of Aqaba. In May 1967 Egyptian president, Abdel Nasser, announced that the Straits of Tiran would again be closed to Israeli vessels. He subsequently mobilised the Egyptian military along the border with Israel, and also ordered the immediate withdrawal of all UN personnel.

On 5 June 1967, as the UN was in the process of leaving the zone, Israel launched a series of pre-emptive airstrikes against Egyptian airfields and other facilities. Egyptian forces were caught by surprise, and nearly the whole of Egypt's military aerial assets were destroyed, giving Israel the advantage of air supremacy. Simultaneously, the Israeli military launched a ground offensive into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula,  as well as the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip. By the sixth day of the conflict, Israel had occupied the entire Sinai Peninsula.

Jordan, which had entered into a defense pact with Egypt just a week before the war began, launched attacks against Israeli forces to slow Israel's advance. On the fifth day, Syria joined the war by shelling Israeli positions in the north.

At the time of the cessation of hostilities - in the space of six days - Israel had seized the Sinai Peninsular, Syria's Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, and the disputed territories known as the West Bank. The conquered territory combined was approximately four times the size of Israel!

The whole world was in shocked disbelief. The world powers had had no time to intervene.

As Israelis celebrated the reunification of Jerusalem, and their first chance to visit Judaism’s holiest sites, after nearly two decades of Jordanian occupation - they also dreamed of translating their military gains into sustainable peace. With war’s end, Israel made it clear that it was willing to give up almost all the new territories under its control - in exchange for a permanent peace agreement with its neighbors.  

The Arab countries did not respond until the Arab League met in Khartoum on September 1. The League pledged to demand Israel’s withdrawal from territories captured - guided by what is known as the “3 no’s” - no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel. The Arab League’s hardline policy shut down any hope of a negotiated Israeli withdrawal in return for peace.

Had the Arab leaders been as willing as Israel to negotiate and compromise following the Six-Day War, a genuine and lasting peace might well have been reached. Instead, as Israel's then Foreign Minister Abba Eban stated, "This is the first war in history which has ended with the victors suing for peace and the vanquished calling for unconditional surrender.”

In 1979, Israel signed a peace agreement with Egypt in a land for peace agreement, which included Israel’s withdrawal from the Sinai. Egypt wisely rejected the return of the Gaza Strip.

Yet peace remains elusive. Even today, many still believe that the core issue of the conflict with the Palestinians is territorial. But this claim does not ring true, as no Palestinian state was established when the disputed territories (West Bank) and the Gaza Strip were under Arab control from 1948 to 1967. Terrorism and military attacks predated, not only the 1967 conflict, but the very establishment of the State of Israel. Moreover, Israel’s neighbors have rejected proposal after proposal to divide the land - from the 1947 UN Partition Plan to Israel’s 2008 offer to the Palestinian Authority.

The true reason why peace could not be reached in 1967 is the same reason why  the conflict began, and why it continues today: The Arab refusal to recognise the right of the Jewish people to a state in their historic homeland.