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N0KFQ > TODAY 11.06.08 04:30l 89 Lines 4494 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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June 11, 1967
Six-Day War ends
The Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors ends with a
United Nations-brokered cease-fire. The outnumbered Israel
Defense Forces achieved a swift and decisive victory in the brief
war, rolling over the Arab coalition that threatened the Jewish
state and more than doubling the amount of territory under
Israel's control. The greatest fruit of victory lay in seizing
the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan; thousands of Jews wept
while bent in prayer at the Second Temple's Western Wall.
Increased tensions and skirmishes along Israel's northern border
with Syria were the immediate cause of the third Arab-Israeli
war. In 1967, Syria intensified its bombardment of Israeli
settlements across the border, and Israel struck back by shooting
down six Syrian MiG fighters. After Syria alleged in May 1967
that Israel was massing troops along the border, Egypt mobilized
its forces and demanded the withdrawal of the U.N. Emergency
Force from the Israel-Egypt cease-fire lines of the 1956
conflict. The U.N. peacekeepers left on May 19, and three days
later Egypt closed the Strait of Tiran to Israeli shipping. On
May 30, Jordan signed a mutual-defense treaty with Egypt and
Syria, and other Arab states, including Iraq, Kuwait, and
Algeria, sent troop contingents to join the Arab coalition
against Israel.
With every sign of a pan-Arab attack in the works, Israel's
government on June 4 authorized its armed forces to launch a
surprise preemptive strike. On June 5, the Six-Day War began with
an Israeli assault against Arab air power. In a brilliant attack,
the Israeli air force caught the formidable Egyptian air force on
the ground and largely destroyed the Arabs' most powerful weapon.
The Israeli air force then turned against the lesser air forces
of Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, and by the end of the day had
decisively won air superiority.
Beginning on June 5, Israel focused the main effort of its ground
forces against Egypt's Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. In a
lightning attack, the Israelis burst through the Egyptian lines
and across the Sinai. The Egyptians fought resolutely but were
outflanked by the Israelis and decimated in lethal air attacks.
By June 8, the Egyptian forces were defeated, and Israel held the
Gaza Strip and the Sinai to the Suez Canal.
Meanwhile, to the east of Israel, Jordan began shelling its
Jewish neighbor on June 5, provoking a rapid and overwhelming
response from Israeli forces. Israel overran the West Bank and on
June 7 captured the Old City of East Jerusalem. The chief
chaplain of the Israel Defense Forces blew a ram's horn at the
Western Wall to announce the reunification of East Jerusalem with
the Israeli-administered western sector.
To the north, Israel bombarded Syria's fortified Golan Heights
for two days before launching a tank and infantry assault on June
9. After a day of fierce fighting, the Syrians began a retreat
from the Golan Heights on June 10. On June 11, a U.N.-brokered
cease-fire took effect throughout the three combat zones, and the
Six-Day War was at an end. Israel had more than doubled its size
in the six days of fighting.
The U.N. Security Council called for a withdrawal from all the
occupied regions, but Israel declined, permanently annexing East
Jerusalem and setting up military administrations in the occupied
territories. Israel let it be known that Gaza, the West Bank, the
Golan Heights, and the Sinai would be returned in exchange for
Arab recognition of the right of Israel to exist and guarantees
against future attack. Arab leaders, stinging from their defeat,
met in August to discuss the future of the Middle East. They
decided upon a policy of no peace, no negotiations, and no
recognition of Israel, and made plans to zealously defend the
rights of Palestinian Arabs in the occupied territories.
Egypt, however, would eventually negotiate and make peace with
Israel, and in 1982 the Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt in
exchange for full diplomatic recognition of Israel. Egypt and
Jordan later gave up their respective claims to the Gaza Strip
and the West Bank to the Palestinians, who beginning in the 1990s
opened "land for peace" talks with Israel. The East Bank
territory has since been returned to Jordan. In 2005, Israel left
the Gaza Strip. Still, a permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace
agreement remains elusive, as does an agreement with Syria to
return the Golan Heights.
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