Definition of the Six Day War

It was the third war between Arabs and Jews after Israel's War of Independence in 1948, and it constituted the greatest triumph of the IDF (Israel's defense forces) over its enemies, with huge profits territorial.

The Six Day War was an armed confrontation that took place between June 5 and 10, both days included, 1967, and which pitted Israel on the one hand and a coalition of states on the other. Arabs.

Among these were Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. And we can say that it was precisely Egypt that was largely responsible for the outbreak of the conflictSince after the Suez Crisis of 1956, it had promised not to materially aid the Arab guerrillas fighting Israel through terrorist tactics, which it continued to do.

Since 1957, a UN interposer force, UNEF (United Nations Emergency ForceUNEF), which Egypt forced to march in May 1967.

Bliss force, founded by the late Dag Hammarskjöld, and made up of military personnel from Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Colombia, Sweden or Yugoslavia among others countries, did the work of pacification between Israel and Egypt, interposing between both armies so that provocations would not occur.

The UNEF's withdrawal was shameful, but the United Nations agreed to it almost without batting an eyelid and knowing what would happen next, as the Egyptian army began to take positions along the border.

In the same month of May 67, Egypt sent another clear message of war to Israel in the form of provocation: the closure of the Straits of Tiran.

This position, at the end of the maritime arm that separates the Arabian peninsulas and the Sinai, makes it possible to cut off maritime traffic.

The main affected, Israel, which was seeing how the passage of ships to its only port on the Red Sea, Eilat, could not stand idly by, since this implied ceasing to receive the goods that came to him as a result of trade with East.

The Israeli government considered this blockade as an act of war, which was precisely what Egyptian President Nasser was looking for.

The Arab world boiled against Israel, eager to avenge the defeats of previous conflicts. Popular pressure in Jordan caused King Hussein, more cautious than his neighbors, to be drawn into being part of the Arab alliance that was going to go to war.

Before the threatIsrael had mobilized its reservists, and at the beginning of June it was faced with a dilemma: an excessively long mobilization was seriously damaging its economy (It would end up being unsustainable), but demobilizing the troops was tantamount to being defenseless, since in the event of a subsequent attack, it would take hours or days to mobilize them again.

Thus, the question posed by the Israeli authorities was: shall we attack and strike the first blow?

The military commanders were in favor of using the surprise of being the first to destroy the air forces enemies, with which a later Jewish offensive would be guaranteed easier thanks to air superiority obtained.

On June 5, 1967, the Israeli air force launched an operation to destroy the Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian air forces, which found most of these fleets on the ground.

The jets that sported the Star of David destroyed almost half a thousand enemy aircraft on the ground, and ruined a large number of airfields. In just a few hours that morning, Israel had struck a blow that gave it air supremacy and practically assured it victory in the conflict.

A key factor in the great success of this operation, in which the IAF (Israel's air force) lost just a dozen aircraft, was the excellent information from intelligence available to the general staff of the Hebrew army, and the planning detailed that I already planned this movement for years.

At the same time that the Arab air forces ceased to exist, the ground forces of the Israeli army were penetrating the Sinai Peninsula at three different points.

Despite being outnumbered (3 divisions to 7), the Israelis had the coverage of their air force, and with the surprise effect in their favor.

The Gaza Strip was the first territory to fall. Meanwhile, Syria responded to the attack on its air force with bombardments from the Golan Heights, and the Jordanian army began movements against the part of Jerusalem in the hands of Israel.

On the second day of fighting, the Israeli army surrounded Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the Jewish forces in the Sinai ran in the direction of the Suez Canal to cut off the retreat to the Egyptian army that they had almost bagged in the desert.

On June 7, the Israelis stormed and were able to reopen the Straits of Tiran, advancing from the south of the peninsula to seek to complete the encirclement of the Egyptian forces present in the desert.

To be able to pocket those troops and force their surrender would have been a tremendous blow from Jewish weapons. on the Arabs in general, and the Egyptians in particular, considering that Egypt was their main enemy.

Also on the same day, Jerusalem was conquered by the Hebrew soldiers.

The significance of the city, still evident today, was and is important, since it has always been the sentimental capital of the Jewish people, and its possession was a long cherished desire by the state of Israel.

The next day, June 8, there was one of the most controversial incidents of the entire conflict and that almost soured relations between Israel and its main ally, the United States: the attack on the Liberty.

This was an American spy ship that was carrying out radio listening tasks off the coasts in which the conflict was taking place. It was thus that, after making a pass over the ship, an Israeli plane attacked it, causing several deaths and injuries on board.

Liberty veterans affirm that the attack was deliberate, that the pilot and whoever authorized the action knew of the existence of the ship and were perfectly aware of her nationality and committed, and that some transmission could have been intercepted from the Liberty which, if made public, could have called into question the military actions of the army Israeli.

On the part of Israel, it has always been argued that it was an error, although the previous pass of the Hebrew aircraft would deny that point.

On June 9, the penultimate day of the war, Israel made its most valuable conquest in military terms: the Golan Heights.

This plateau dominates the northern part of Israel, and from there it is possible to bombard that area at will, or to do the same with a large area of ​​Syria.

When the Israeli troops reached the Heights, they no longer found Syrian soldiers there; the news that had reached Syria from the Egyptian front pointed to a great success of the Arab side, which encouraged Damascus to order a hasty offensive, which was very uncoordinated.

In addition, and while some units attacked and others did not, the Syrian troops received an unpleasant visit from the theoretically nullified force. Israeli air force, discovering then the harsh reality: this force was not only fully operational, but also acted without opposition.

Panic spread among the Syrian reservists, who hastily abandoned their positions.

What was worse for Syria is that Israel had Damascus just a stone's throw away and the path clear to advance.

If he did not, it was because he was aware that he could not maintain an occupation of that territory, in addition to that international powers had begun to exert pressure on Israel to abandon its offensive.

The Six Day War effectively lasted the indicated number of days, and left the greatest territorial gains to Israel.

These are the territories of Gaza and the West Bank, which it still occupies de facto (despite being under Palestinian authority, although subject to a sort of Israeli protectorate), the occupied Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula, which was returned to Egypt in 1982.

That conflict also bequeathed Israel's total dominion over Jerusalem, a city that recently administration Trump recognized as the capital of the Hebrew state, fomenting the consequent protests in the Arab world, that he does not want to recognize the capital more than Tel Aviv.

In Egypt, Nasser's prestige had been touched, and despite undertaking a purge of the army, he had to face protests. Egypt continued to wage a low-intensity war against Israel in the border area of ​​the Suez Canal.

Issues in the Six Day War