The seeds of the Six Day War were sown in the aftermath of the Suez Crisis in 1956. After American demands that British, French and Israeli forces cease operations aimed at seizing the Suez Canal. Israeli forces withdrew to the 1948 borders and a United Nations force was placed between the opposing armies.
In May of 1967, the United Nations acceded to an Egyptian request to withdraw its forces from the region. Days later, Egyptian President Gamal 'Abd Al-Nasir ordered a naval blockade that closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, effectively cutting off Israel's access to the Red Sea via the Gulf of 'Aqabah.
Sensing that war was inevitable, the Israelis launched pre-emptive strikes on Egypt's airfields on June 5, virtually destroying the Egyptian Air Force on the ground in a matter of hours. Similar strikes against Syrian and Jordanian airbases followed. On the ground, Israeli forces raced across the Sinai Peninsula to the Suez Canal, seized East Jerusalem and pushed Jordanian forces across the Jordan River, and stormed the Golan Heights and ejected Syrian forces that had been shelling settlements in northern Israel. By June 10, it was over.
The results
Israeli forces had returned the Jewish holy places in Jerusalem - the temple Mount and the Western Wall - to Jewish control. The Golan Heights were occupied by Israeli forces, not only ending Syrian artillery attacks on northern Israel but providing Israel excellent intelligence and observation locations overlooking the bulk of the Syrian army and air force. Israel was in control of the entire Sinai Peninsula, including the Gaza strip. The presence of Israeli army units on the east bank of the Suez Canal closed the strategic waterway - it was not to reopen for eight years.
The Israelis were euphoric; the Arabs were humiliated. The metamorphosis was beginning. Israel, which had existed inside the de facto 1948 borders surrounded by hostile Arab nations, borders that at the narrowest point were only nine miles, much less than artillery range, was now an occupying power. Although the Sinai Peninsula was eventually all returned to Egypt in accordance with the 1979 Camp David Accords, Israel formally annexed the Golan Heights and retained administrative control over the West Bank.
Go To Page: 1 2
