Why did Israel fight the Arab-Israeli War of 1967 or Six Day War?

Answer 1

Note on "Winning"

It's important to note beforehand that Israel did not "win" the territories on two counts. Firstly, Israel fought and shed blood to gain those territories, they were not just awarded or gifted to Israel. Secondly, no one can "win" territories without a formal peace treaty awarding territories to one country or another. The Arab-Israeli Conflict has only had partial treaties and none of them have awarded territory conquered during the Six Day War to Israel. (1979 Peace with Egypt returned the Sinai to Egypt and confirmed follow-up discussions on the Gaza Strip and 1994 Peace with Jordan required Israel to cede the West Bank to a future Palestinian State.)

In addition to the new territories, Israel also gained a fundamental shift in Middle Eastern policy. It would now be negotiating with Arab countries from a position of strength, being able to return tracts of Arab land to the Arab States for peace as opposed to merely just asking for peace. This is the main reason that Egypt and Jordan eventually were willing to sue for peace even though no other Arab country has done so.

Territories

To see the list of territories for which Israeli occupation was legitimated subject to a future peace treaty according to UNSC Resolution 242, see the list below:

East Jerusalem: Considered by many Israelis to be the greatest success of winning the Six-Day War, Israel was able to unite the city of West New Jerusalem with the Old City and East New Jerusalem to create a united municipality and capital (although unrecognized internationally as such). Of the territories here considered it is the smallest and most controversial as Palestinians want East Jerusalem and the Old City to be part of their eventual capital city.

West Bank: From 1949-1967, this area was a province of Jordan and included all areas within the Mandate of British Palestine along the Jordan River which Israel did not control prior to 1967. It represents roughly 18% of the total area of the British Mandate of Palestine, making it the largest Palestinian territorial acquisition in the War. It is home to many Ancient Jewish and Christian sites/cities like Nablus (Shchem), Bethlehem, Hebron, and Jericho.

Gaza Strip: This is a very small strip of territory that Egypt held from 1949-1967. It remained under Israeli military control until 1993 when it was given to the Palestinian Authority as part of the Oslo Accords.

Sinai Peninsula: Easily the largest piece of territory (60,000 km square) that Israel acquired during the Six-Day War, the Sinai Peninsula is larger than the entire British Mandate of Palestine. It was used by Israelis as a resort area and for its oil reserves until the territory was returned to Egypt over the course of three years (1979-1982) for peace and a continuous stream of oil.

Eastern Bank of the Sea of Galilee: This is the smallest peace of land (5 km square) that Israel recaptured and is the only territory from the British Mandate of Palestine that the Palestinians have never explicitly claimed. From 1949-1967, Syria held this piece of land, giving Syria direct access to a small portion of the Sea of Galilee and thus Israel/Palestine's main water source.

Golan Heights: This is a Syrian Mountain Range just north of western Jordan. This territory is small, but strategic, giving Israel a position where Syria cannot take military advantage of it. Currently, UNDOF monitors the border between the Golan Heights and Syria.

Answer 2

Answer 1: General Synopsis

Israel, believing the surrounding Arab countries were about to attack it, launched attacks on the surrounding areas, resulting in six days of fighting breaking out against Egypt, Jordan and Syria. The result was a decisive Israeli victory; Israel occupied the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip of Egypt, the West Bank territory of Jordan and the Golan Heights of Syria. Jordan lost almost a third of its population. The Sinai Peninsula would later be returned to Egypt in 1979 in return for Egypt agreeing to recognise Israel while the Gaza Strip and West Bank now form the Palestinian territories.

Note: When it says above that Jordan lost around a third of its population, it means that the land that nearly a third of Jordanians lived on came under Israeli authority. It does not mean that nearly a third of Jordanians died.

Answer 2: Timeline

The Arab-Israeli War of 1967 or the Six Day War took only six days. On each day, the following things occurred: -- Note that the parentheticals indicate what countries the territories belong to today in a de jure sense.

· June 5

o Israeli air attacks against Egypt begin in the morning.

o Israel later begins air strikes in Jordan and targets Syria air force bases.

o Syria, Jordan and Iraq begin air strikes on Haifa (Israel).

o Jordan launches air strikes on Netanya (Israel) and other Israeli targets.

o Jordan and Iraq attempt airstrikes against Tel Aviv (Israel). Jordan also begins artillery fire against the city.

· June 6

o Syrian forces fortify the border with Israel and begin artillery fire.

o Israel takes Gaza (Palestine), Ras el Naqeb (Egypt) and Jebel Libni (Egypt) from Egypt.

o Ramallah (Palestine), North East Jerusalem (Palestine), Ammunition Hill (Palestine) and Talpiot (Palestine) are among areas Israeli forces capture.

o Jordanian forces are ordered to retreat from West Bank.

· June 7

o U.N. Security Council presents a cease-fire initiative. Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser turns it down. Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eskol proposes to Jordan's King Hussein that a cease-fire and peace talks begin. Hussein doesn't respond.

o Bir al-Hasna (Egypt) and Al Qazima (Egypt) in Egypt are claimed by Israel.

o Old City of Jerusalem (Palestine), Nablus (Palestine) and Jericho (Palestine) are among those places that fall in Jordan.

o Jordanian forces are ordered to retreat.

o Fighting between Syria and Israel continues on the border of Golan (Syria).

· June 8

o Egypt accepts a cease-fire.

o Hebron (Palestine) falls to the Israeli army.

o Fighting continues on the border of Golan (Syria).

· June 9

o An attack on Golan Heights (Syria) is ordered.

· June 10

o Israel takes Kuneitra (Syria) and Mas'ada (Syria).

o Cease-fire with Syria is agreed upon.

o War ends, with Israel claiming the Gaza Strip (Palestine), West Bank (Palestine), Golan Heights (Syria) and Sinai Peninsula to the Suez Canal (Egypt).

Answer 3

Israeli's victory over the neighbouring countries, Syria, Saudi, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Sudan, etc in June 1967.

At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West bank, East Jersusalem, and the Golan Heights.

Answer 4

There are three major reasons why Israel was able to defeat its adversaries in the Six Day War:

Israeli Preparation: Israelis realized that if Israel were to lose any conflict with the Arab States, Israel would cease to exist as an independent state. Therefore, Israeli generals and leaders spent years pouring over plans to defend the State and what methods of attack could most effectively quell the opposition. Israeli leaders had detailed topological surveys of the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights which were used when taking those territories. By contrast, Arab political leaders and generals spent much more time saber-rattling and declaring that they were going to destroy Israel without forming any plan to actually achieve that.

Surprise Attack: Although Egypt and Syria were definitely preparing to attack Israel and had made overtly hostile moves, Israel's first move of carpet-bombing the entire Egyptian Air Force took the Arabs by surprise. This swift move guaranteed Israel air superiority and made the Israeli tank and infantry divisions freer to move. This in turn led to more forceful advances. The Arabs did not recover from the advantage Israel had acquired from being the first-mover.

Incompetent Arab Generals: In the Sinai Peninsula, particularly, there were hugely conflicting reports about Arab losses and confusion. As a result, the Egyptian command ordered the tank divisions to withdraw without a clear method of retreat. Many in the Egyptian tank-core believed that they were denied a proper engagement with Israel, which they may have been able to win. Instead, they formed an easy-to-target-from-the-air column of tanks moving slowly to avoid getting stuck in the sand. In this way, Israel was able to compel an Egyptian evacuation from the Sinai Peninsula with only a third the number of tanks that the Egyptians had.

Answer 5

Answer 1

The immediate result was that it showed that Israel was not going anywhere. Israel now controlled more land in the Middle East and had effectively positioned itself in regional and international affairs.

Additionally, the War finally convinced the United States that Israel would not disappear and thus was worthy of a long-term alliance. Israel now had control of the Palestinian Territories and had secured an effective negotiating position on account of UN Resolution 242.

Answer 2

It was a decisive Israeli Victory where Israel was able to capture the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.

Answer 3

-- Israel continued to exist.

-- Israel was able to gain control over areas previously used as bases from which

rockets and suicide missions had been launched, and artillery fired, into Israel.

-- Israel was able to gain control over a historic area with critical importance to

its Jewish population, but from which Jewish tourists and pilgrims had been barred

for the previous 19 years, namely east Jerusalem.

-- The military capability and desire of several neighboring countries to try again

was somewhat diminished for a while.

Answer 4

Israel took over:

Ramat Hagolan (was part of Syria

The west bank included east Jerusalem (that was part of Jordan after she took the land in 1948, Israel gave this land to the Palestinian in Oslo Agreement)

Gaza strip ( was Egyptian land, the was taken in 1948 war, Israel gave this land to the Palestinian in Oslo Agreement)

Sinai ( was an Egyptian land, Israel gave back this land after the peace agreement with Egypt)

Answer 6

Their strategy and motivation might best be described as "Pre-emptive Self-Defense."

The history leading up to the Six-Day War (also known as the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, among other things) is long and complex, but what it boils down to is that at the end of World War II, the Allies essentially imposed the state of Israel on the middle east, and the peoples who lived there at the time didn't appreciate it much. As a result, many neighboring Arab nations made repeated attempts to eliminate the Jewish state over the course of several decades.

After a period of rising tensions, Israel's neighbors - Egypt, Jordan, and Syria - began massing hundreds of thousands of troops at the borders. Israel's leaders believed they faced a clear and present danger to the very existence of their nation, and thus resolved to launch a pre-emptive attack, which was highly successful in part because it largely caught their adversaries off-guard. Some sources suggest that Israel was even prepared to use nuclear weapons (which to this day it does not acknowledge that it possesses) in the last extremity of need.

For an additional discussion of the Causes of the Six Day War, see the related question below.

Answer 7

Note on "Winning"

It's important to note beforehand that Israel did not "win" the territories on two counts. Firstly, Israel fought and shed blood to gain those territories, they were not just awarded or gifted to Israel. Secondly, no one can "win" territories without a formal peace treaty awarding territories to one country or another. The Arab-Israeli Conflict has only had partial treaties and none of them have awarded territory conquered during the Six Day War to Israel. (1979 Peace with Egypt returned the Sinai to Egypt and confirmed follow-up discussions on the Gaza Strip and 1994 Peace with Jordan required Israel to cede the West Bank to a future Palestinian State.)

Territories

To see the list of territories for which Israeli occupation was legitimated subject to a future peace treaty according to UNSC Resolution 242, see the list below:

East Jerusalem: Considered by many Israelis to be the greatest success of winning the Six-Day War, Israel was able to unite the city of West New Jerusalem with the Old City and East New Jerusalem to create a united municipality and capital (although unrecognized internationally as such). Of the territories here considered it is the smallest and most controversial as Palestinians want East Jerusalem and the Old City to be part of their eventual capital city.

West Bank: From 1949-1967, this area was a province of Jordan and included all areas within the Mandate of British Palestine along the Jordan River which Israel did not control prior to 1967. It represents roughly 18% of the total area of the British Mandate of Palestine, making it the largest Palestinian territorial acquisition in the War. It is home to many Ancient Jewish and Christian sites/cities like Nablus (Shchem), Bethlehem, Hebron, and Jericho.

Gaza Strip: This is a very small strip of territory that Egypt held from 1949-1967. It remained under Israeli military control until 1993 when it was given to the Palestinian Authority as part of the Oslo Accords.

Sinai Peninsula: Easily the largest piece of territory (60,000 km square) that Israel acquired during the Six-Day War, the Sinai Peninsula is larger than the entire British Mandate of Palestine. It was used by Israelis as a resort area and for its oil reserves until the territory was returned to Egypt over the course of three years (1979-1982) for peace and a continuous stream of oil.

Eastern Bank of the Sea of Galilee: This is the smallest peace of land (5 km square) that Israel recaptured and is the only territory from the British Mandate of Palestine that the Palestinians have never explicitly claimed. From 1949-1967, Syria held this piece of land, giving Syria direct access to a small portion of the Sea of Galilee and thus Israel/Palestine's main water source.

Golan Heights: This is a Syrian Mountain Range just north of western Jordan. This territory is small, but strategic, giving Israel a position where Syria cannot take military advantage of it. Currently, UNDOF monitors the border between the Golan Heights and Syria.

Answer 8

Israel won the 6 day war in 1967.
Israel was victorious in the Six-Day War and defeated Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in succession in 1967.
Israel.