The 1967 Six-Day War I June War : Introduction To The Region

From bases in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, Al-Fatah and the PLO initiated terrorist raids into Israel, and Israel retaliated with airstrikes. The cycle of raids and reprisals created tension on Israel’s northern border, including a spectacular Israel-Syria air battle in April 1967. When Syria’s hard-line government turned up the rhetoric, Nasser finally stepped in. Egypt concentrated its army in the Sinai and demanded the withdrawal of the UN buffer-zone troops stationed since 1957, which meekly bowed out. Israeli Prime Minister Ixvi Eshkol nervously warned that a blockade of the Strait of Tiran would be taken as an act of aggression. Yet Nasser, caught up in the bluff and escalation, initiated a blockade on May 22, 1967.

When Jordan, Iraq, and Syria began deploying troops along Israel’s borders, the latter was hard-pressed to counter. On June 5,1967, skeptical of its capacity to sustain a defense indefinitely and fearing imminent attack, Israel launched a preemptive strike on the force of some 250,000 troops arrayed against it. Eshkol warned Jordan not to get involved, but Hussein attacked anyway. One stunning Israeli blow eliminated the Egyptian Air Force and after six days, the Arab states were forced to accept a humiliating cease-fire. From Egypt, Israel had taken all of the Sinai and the Gaza Strip, from Syria the strategic Golan Heights, and from Jordan the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem-which was promptly annexed. Nasser resigned in disgrace, but a swell of public sympathy prompted him to reclaim his post.