Six-Day War

The Six-Day War (Hebrew: ????? ??? ????? transliteration: Milhemet Sheshet Hayamim), also known as the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Six Days' War, or June War, was fought between Israel and its Arab neighbors Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. It began when Israel launched what it considered a pre-emptive attack against Egypt, following the latter's closure of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping and the deployment of troops in the Sinai near the Israeli border, and after months of increasingly tense border incidents and diplomatic crises. By its end Israel controlled the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights. The results of the war affect the geopolitics of the region to this day.

Conclusion of conflict and situation after war

By June 10, Israel had completed its final offensive in the Golan Heights and a ceasefire was signed the following day. Israel had seized the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank of the Jordan River (including East Jerusalem), and the Golan Heights. Overall, Israel's territory grew by a factor of 3, including about one million Arabs placed under Israel's direct control in the newly captured territories. Israel's strategic depth grew to at least 300 kilometers in the south, 60 kilometers in the east and 20 kilometers of extremely rugged terrain in the north, a security asset that would prove useful in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War six years later.

Related Topics:
June 10 - Ceasefire - 1973 Arab-Israeli War

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The political importance of the 1967 War was immense; Israel demonstrated that it was not only able, but also willing to initiate strategic strikes that could change the regional balance. Egypt and Syria learned tactical lessons, but perhaps not the strategic ones, and would launch an attack in 1973 in an attempt to reclaim their lost territory.

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According to Chaim Herzog,

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:On June 19, 1967, the National Unity Government voted unanimously to return the Sinai to Egypt and the Golan Heights to Syria in return for a peace agreements. The Golans would have to be demilitarized and special arrangement would be negotiated for the Straits of Tiran. The government also resolved to open negotiations with King Hussein of Jordan regarding the Eastern border. {{ref|herzog263}}

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The Israeli decision was to be conveyed to the Arab nations by the United States. The US was informed of the decision, but not that it was to transmit it. There is no evidence of receipt from Egypt or Syria, who thus apparently never received the offer. {{ref|shlaim}}

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Later, the Khartoum Arab Summit resolved that there would be "no peace, no recognition and no negotiation with Israel." However, as Avraham Sela notes, the Khartoum conference effectively marked a shift in the perception of the conflict by the Arab states away from one centered on the question of Israel's legitimacy toward one focussing on territories and boundaries and this was underpinned on 22 November when Egypt and Jordan accepted Resolution 242. {{ref|sela}}

Related Topics:
Khartoum Arab Summit - Avraham Sela - 22 November - Resolution 242

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The June 19 cabinet decision did not include the Gaza Strip, and left open the possibility of Israel permanently acquiring parts of the West Bank. On June 25-27, Israel incorporated East Jerusalem together with areas of the West Bank to the north and south into Jerusalem's new municipal boundaries.

Related Topics:
Gaza Strip - West Bank - East Jerusalem

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Yet another aspect of the war touches on the population of the captured territories: of about one million Palestinians in the West Bank, 300,000 (according to the US State Department) fled to Jordan, where they contributed to the growing unrest. The other 600,000 {{ref|palstats}} remained. In the Golan Heights, an estimated 80,000 Syrians fled. {{ref|syrianstats}} Only the inhabitants of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights were allowed to receive Israeli citizenship, as Israel annexed these territories in the early 1980s. See also Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Related Topics:
1980s - Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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Both Jordan and Egypt eventually withdrew their claims to West Bank and Gaza (the Sinai was returned on the basis of Camp David Accords of 1978 and the question of the Golan Heights is still being negotiated with Syria). After Israeli conquest of these newly acquired 'territories' a large settlement effort was launched to secure Israel's permanent foothold. There are now hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers in these territories.

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The casualties of the war, far from Israel's anticipated heavy estimates, were quite low, with 338 soldiers lost on the Egyptian front; 300 on the Jordanian front and 141 on the Syrian front. Egypt lost 80% of its military equipment, 10,000 soldiers and 1,500 officers killed; 5,000 soldiers and 500 officers captured {{ref|hopwood}} and 20,000 wounded. {{ref|stone219}} Jordan suffered 6,000-7,000 killed and probably around 12,000 to 20,000 wounded. {{ref|pollack315}} Syria lost 2,500 dead and 5,000 wounded, plus half the tanks and almost all the artillery positioned in the Golan Heights. {{ref|stone}}. The official count of Iraqi casualties was 10 killed and about thirty wounded {{ref|makiya}}

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The 1967 War also laid the foundation for future discord in the region - as on 22 November 1967, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, the "land for peace" formula, which called for Israeli withdrawal "from territories occupied" in 1967 in return for "the termination of all claims or states of belligerency."

Related Topics:
22 November - 1967 - UN Security Council - Resolution 242 - Land for peace

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The framers of Resolution 242 recognized that some territorial adjustments were likely and deliberately did not include words all or the in the English language version of the text when referring to "territories occupied" during the war, although it is present in other, notably French, Spanish and Russian versions. It recognized the right of "every state in the area" - thus Israel in particular - "to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt in 1982, after the Camp David Accords.

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