The Case for Israel - Part III: The 1967 Arab-Israeli War
The Case for Israel - Part III: The 1967 Arab-Israeli War
Critics of Israel often falsely accuse the Jewish state of intentionally expanding its territory to prevent the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Yet, a look at the facts of history will tell a much different story.
In 1947, the Jews accepted the U.N. Partition Plan that would have created two states for two peoples in Palestine. Unfortunately, it was the Arabs of Palestine and the Arab world who rejected the plan and attacked Israel, starting the war of 1948.
After that war, between 1949 and 1967, Israel did not control the West Bank, Gaza, or the Old City of Jerusalem. Jordan controlled the entire West Bank and East Jerusalem, including the Old City with the Western Wall. And Egypt controlled all of Gaza.
Within the pre-1967 borders were yet another missed opportunity for peace through the two-state solution. Israel only took control of these territories as a result of a war of self-defense, the war of 1967, a war that Israel did not want.
There are several reasons why Israel felt it had to launch a preemptive military strike against Egypt on June 5th, 1967. They all can be summarized in one sentence: Israel saw no alternative to defending its right to exist.
Beginning in May 1967, the government of Egypt took a series of dangerous steps that caused the war.
On May 18th, Egypt demanded the removal of a United Nations peacekeeping force on its border with Israel. The U.N. complied with Egypt’s demand. With the U.N. peacekeeping force out of the way, Egypt began to amass tens of thousands of troops along the Israeli border with Egypt.
On May 23rd, Egypt created a naval blockade of Israeli shipping to Asia through the Straits of Tiran. This was a clear act of war. Finally, President Nasser of Egypt repeatedly threatened Israel. In a speech on May 27th, he said: “Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel.”
Facing explicit threats to its survival and being outnumbered on three fronts, Israel launched a preemptive air strike against the Egyptian Air Force on June 5th, 1967. Israel attacked Jordan and took over the West Bank only after the Jordanian army began an artillery attack on the Jewish areas of West Jerusalem.
It’s important to know that Israel made every effort to keep Jordan out of the war. According to historian and former Ambassador Michael Oren, Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol reached out to King Hussein of Jordan to avoid war with the kingdom.
In a briefing in 2002, Oren said: “When the war began, Israel did its best to avoid conflict with Jordan. But on the morning of June 5, 1967, the Jordanian army bombed West Jerusalem, the suburbs of Tel Aviv, as well as targets in the Galilee. Eshkol sent Hussein a letter stating that Israel would take no action against him if he ceased hostile activities. Jordan, however, received misinformation of Arab victories emanating from Cairo and pressed forward.”
Following the Israeli victory in the ‘67 war, Israel saw an opportunity to end the conflict with the Arabs. It was prepared to negotiate the exchange of land taken in the war for peace with its Arab neighbors (“Land for peace”).
Unfortunately, the Arab League decided to reject peace again at its summit meeting in Khartoum, Sudan, in September 1967. After the summit, they issued the now infamous statement that would continue the conflict for decades by stating: “No recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel, and no peace with Israel.”
The late Abba Eban, Foreign Minister of Israel, once famously said, “The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity for peace.” Nevertheless, Israel finally achieved peace with both Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994). And ever since, Israel has continued to pursue peace with its Palestinian neighbors.
In the next segment of the Case for Israel, we’ll look at Israel’s continued efforts for peace with the Palestinians after the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords.
Bob Feferman
Community Relations Director
574-233-1164 x1815
RFeferman@TheJewishFed.org