The Suez crisis of 1956 was the basis for the 6 day war. Nasser had been humiliated and was not going to allow defeat again. This time he was not going to underestimate the Israeli force. By 1967 Egypt had 1200 tanks and 1000 aircraft. The Israelis had 800 tanks and only 400 aircraft and only 400 planes. The Israeli force was easily outnumbered. Nasser was sure of victory but yet again he would turn out to be mistaken. But to ensure victory Nasser made alliances with other Arab nations, this included Syria and Jordan.
The 6-day-war
At the end of May 1967 Nasser warned the U.N. peacekeepers to leave the area, they followed his advice. On the 5th of June 1967 the war had begun. It began much like the Suez crisis of 1956; Israel had launched an aerial pre-emptive strike on Egypt, mainly on the Egyptian air force, leaving them with complete aerial power. This was followed by the Israeli army moving into and through the Sinai peninsular. By the 8th of June Israel had taken the west bank and reached the river Jordan. By the 9th of June Israeli troops had control of the whole area up to the Suez Canal. On the Syrian front the Golan Heights had been taken by the 10th of June. This was very important as the Golan Heights were very mountainous and represented a huge obstacle. By taking the Golan Heights Israel had gained them selves’ security as this area presented a huge weakness in the defence of Israel. The war was over within six days. 700 Israelis were killed with 13000 Arabs killed. 2500 Israelis were wounded with 27000 Arabs wounded. On the Sunday the 11th of June 1967 the cease fire was officially called.
Foreseen Consequences:
But what did this war actually lead to? This war meant many things in the continuing Arab Israeli conflict:
The six day war gave Israel territory. Israel had expected to gain land but not to such an extent. Israel had conquered a large area of land by the end of the six day war. All Arab land conquered was overseen by the Israeli military. This meant that all of Palestine was under the immediate control of Israel. This had been the total reverse of the Arab objective, not only had they lost all control of Palestine, they had also lost parts of their land in the process. All of the Arabs who lived in the occupied area were no longer in Arab control.
Israel, having conquered the west bank, now had a secure eastern frontier. However the Gaza strip was of no military importance and hence did not matter. The Gaza strip was also now and Israeli territory. The Sinai peninsular, however still belonged to Egypt and Israel only had control up to the Suez Canal to ensure safety, as many anti-Israel terrorist groups were based here. The Golan Heights, another strategically important point, was taken from Syrian control. This land had previously given the Syrians the chance to bombard Israel from safety. But now Israel had control and now security.
Then there was east Jerusalem, previously an area belonging to the Palestinians, this was taken through pure urban warfare. This gave Israel a religious and physiological advantage over the Arabs, or so they thought. By keeping this eastern site Israel strengthened the Arab resistance to Israel. By taking the area which house one of the single most important mosques in Islam the Israelis fuelled the Islamic terrorist groups with more rage and anger. By doing so this continues the struggle between Israel and terrorism.
Due to the taking of this land comes the term occupied territories. Israel had expected to gain the land and so had though of a settlement policy. Had they expected such resistance to their policy is uncertain? Israel has occupied these territories but it has not claimed them as Israel or returned them to their previous owner’s this mean they are occupied territories. This means the people of these territories do not have Israeli rights and do not belong to any particular state. Only the Golan Heights and east Jerusalem have been claimed as part of Israel. The remaining three have not, officially, been claimed as part of Israel. This makes them occupied which means that they are under Israeli military rule but Israel does not want the Arab nationals to become Israeli citizens. By doing this the Arabs could legally put an Arab government in place. Hence from the leading question in the Arab Israeli conflict is no longer, “will the state of Israel survive?” but rather, “what will happen to the Palestinian people?”
Israeli Boundaries before June 1967
Israeli Boundaries after June 1967
These occupied territories have led to the Settlement policies. From 1967 the Israelis have built their homes and communities in the occupied territories and have kept their Israeli citizenship. This shows the discrimination against the Arabs. Even though they live in a territory containing Israeli citizens the Arabs cannot gain their own Israeli citizenship. However, as time has passed these settlements have become more highly populated as well as guarded. As these settlements become populated the Israelis ensure their people some protection. Many different political groups disagreed with this policy. The Likud party approved the settlement policy; the labour party deemed it unnecessary. It is thought that Israeli’s did this so as to control the area but not to technically rule the area, so as to avoid giving the Palestinians Israeli rights. The Israelis believed it was their promised land and so had more right to the land. An advantage to the Palestinians were the jobs, due to the increase in Israeli business the Palestinians could find more jobs. A degree of co-existence began to form.
Unforeseen Consequences:
However, this was all from the Israeli point of view the Arabs felt very differently. For the second time they had been denied their home land. The Palestinian statehood seemed impossible. They were being oppressed and had no allies. The west bank had now become a refugee centre. There was little hope for the future. This anger and hatred towards the Israelis led to many consequences. One of them being the 3 NOs. the Arabs were not prepared to accept the Israeli victory. In august 1967 the Arab leaders had a summit. They had decided to declare permanent and continuing war on Israel. They signed a seal:
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No Israeli Recognition- they would not recognise Israel as an independent state.
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No negotiation- if they do not recognise Israel as a state they cannot negotiate
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No peace- this meant bloodshed.
This agreement was an unforeseen problem for the Israelis. The Israelis had never thought that the 6 day war would lead to such an Arab agreement. They had now been sentenced to a continuous war. The Israelis had believed they would end the war on the end of the 6 day war. They were gravely mistake. They would now be involved in the bloodiest war declared in the Middle East conflict. They had no choice; they would now have to fight every day of their lives until one party lost. Israel had overlooked such a declaration. This continuing warfare was totally unforeseen by the Israeli government. The Israelis had expected security to develop due to the 6 day war. Due to the 6 day war the Israelis would now have to fight a continual war.
In Oct 1973 the Yom Kippur war was declared. By the time Nasser was dead leaving General Sadat to take over as ruler of Egypt. Sadat also knew the importance of Israel just as his predecessor. To avoid any western interference the Arab states cut off the western oil supply. The Yom Kippur war showed that many more wars would ensue.
Then came the terrorist attacks from Lebanon, in 1982. This led to the invasion of Lebanon in the summer of 1982. This war showed that Israel would not always win. Then, in 1991, the gulf war was declared. In 1990 Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. The U.N. forces pushed Saddam’s forces back. Iraq then sent missiles into Israel to create their involvement so as to create a huge Arab- Israeli war. The Arabs, at this time, were on the side of America. America asked Israel to refrain from any attack to avoid such a thing. One thing was certain; the middle- east was a very fragile area. War could be set off by anything. Israel knew peace would come at a heavy price.
Terrorism also followed. Up to this stage terrorism was random but after 1967 the P.L.O. (Palestinian Liberation Front) was set up. These were a number of terrorist groups set up to destroy Israel. Their attacks were not hugely damaging but created fear among the people. One of the most dominant groups was the group, “Fatah,” led by Yasser Arafat. The three main terrorist groups remain Jihad, Hesbollah and Hamas. They were more than nationalists they were very religious too.
Another unexpected outcome for the Israelis is the Intifada. The price for surprising the Palestinian people was that the younger generation grew up despising the Israeli people. This led to the constant fighting between the Palestinian people and the Israeli army. These Intifadas were common and vicious but the Israelis were well equipped to deal with such Intifadas. However in the Palestinian eyes the 6 day war was not over it had only changed.
Another outcome of the war was the Camp David Effect. After the Yom Kippur war the Egyptian general Sadat realised the need for peace and so with the help of the American president, Jimmy Carter, peace was agreed to between the Israeli leader and Sadat but only if the Sinai Peninsular was returned. This was agreed to. This so called idea of land for peace had worked. This is thought of as the stepping stone forward to peace. However the Arabs were furious at Sadat as he had broken the agreement of the 3 NOs and hence was assassinated in 1981 by an army officer.
The 6 Day war has a huge significance to the current Arab Israeli situation. The six day war led to many things. Israel had believed that the 6 day war would be the last but they were very mistaken. They did not expect to spend the next 20 years fighting Intifadas and terrorism. They did not expect such agreements such as the 3 Nos. they did not expect to have to fight for their lives everyday. In short they had expected more Arab co-operation than they received. However, through the 6 day war and its consequences the Israeli government realised the potential in such deals as land for peace as with General Sadat. If peace is to be declared and remain in permanent existence then perhaps the land for peace formula is the one to use.
