six day war 1967

• what were the causes of the six day war

  • actions of the palestine liberation organisation. Their aim was to unite all the palestinians and win back the land which they had lost from 1948-49.
  • Lebanon and jordan tried to restrict PLO activities as they were afraid of israeli reprisals.
  • Syria was keen to support the PLO and encouraged Fatah's riads against israel and supplied men and arms.
• countdown to the war

  • in February 1966 a radical and aggressive government came to power and stepped up their support for the PLO and accused the Egyptian government of not supporting them
  • Nasser did not want war as he knew the Arab states were not ready and Israel had stronger military forces
  • However to maintain peace, he signed an armistice with syria where if one state was attacked, the other would come to it's defense.
• why were tensions high?

  • a week after the egyptian-syrian pact a mine exploded on the israel- jordan frontier killing 3 israeli soldiers. The israeli's retaliated with a massive attack on the jordanian village where they believed the attackers came from.
• what happened between israel and syria in 1967

  • 7th April 1967
  • an israeli tractor was ploughing land in the demilitarised zone which the UN had established on the Israeli side of the border.
  • The syrians opened fire and Israeli's fire back. Syrians started shelling israeli settlements and Israeli tanks went into action but could not reach the right positions
  • Syrian fighter planes were shot down
• what was the crisis of May 1967

  • Israel issued several threats to act against syria unless it stopped supporting palestinian attacks.
  • On May 12th, an israeli general threatened to occupy the syrian capital and overthrow the government. This was seen as an intention from Israel to attack
  • Then the soviets intervened and they regarded syria as a key ally in the middle east.
  • On 13th May, the soviets warned the Egyptian government that Israel was moving its armed forces to the border with syria.
  • Nasser knew this was untrue but arab eyes were all on nasser about what he would do.
• what were nasser's next moves

  • on 15th May, he moved 100,000 Egyptian troops into the sinai peninsula. This was Egyptian territory and Israel still had far more troops on it's side but it alarmed Israeli's because it brought Egyptian troops nearer to Israel
  • He asked the UN commander to remove his troops from Egyptian soil. He wanted to prove that Egypt was completely independent. The UN forces could stay on Egyptian territory as long as Egypt allowed them. The UN secretary general proposed that the UN troops be placed on the Israeli side but they refused, so troops were withdrawn
• nassers next moves (2)

  • on 22nd May, Nasser closed the straits of Tiran, which led to the Gulf of Aqaba, to Israeli shipping. This denied access to the port of Eilat to ships coming from the Indian ocean and the far East.
  • The israeli's claimed that the USA, France and Britain had guaranteed free passage of all shipping and announced Nasser's act was an 'aggressive act against to which Israel is entitled to exercise self-defence'
  • On 24th May, the syrian defence minister challenged the israeli's
• what was israel's response

  • they were key on securing US support and had to be sure that they would stand by them
  • US president Johnson told the Israeli foreign minister, on 26th May, that according to US intelligence, Egypt had no plan to attack but if they did then israeli's would 'whip the hell out of them.' He then added 'israel would not be alone unless it decides to go alone.'
  • The israeli government decided to wait
• why was there increased pressure on israel

  • Nasser demanded that Israel should allow the Palestinian refugees to return to Israel and that they should give up the land taken in the 1948-9 war.
  • In jordan the king wanted to avoid war and remain neutral but half of Jordan was Palestinian and they demanded revenge for what happened.
  • On may 30th, the king signed a mutual defence with Egypt
• increased pressure on israel (2)

  • on may 31, a second Israeli delegation went to washington D.C. They wanted the US government to take action to open the straits of Tiran. The Americans suggested that Israel should take action, on their own, to open the straits.
  • This was seen as a sign to go ahead with military action.
  • on June 1st, a new Israeli government was formed and three days later the Israeli cabinet decided to go to war
  • Just after dawn on June 5th, the Israeli air force took off and within 4 hours they destroyed the air forces of Egypt, Syria, Jordan.
• what were the reasons of Israeli victory

  • the arabs lost 15,000 men while Israeli's lost fewer than 1000
  • Arabs air forces were destroyed
  • Israeli's had the most advanced US electronic equipment which allowed them to intercept Arab communication.
  • Israeli's were highly skilled and well trained
• what were the results of the six day war

  • The israeli's had conquered the West bank, Gaza, Sinai and the Golan heights
  • for the time being Israeli government decided on military occupation.
  • the israeli government later ordered the army to confiscate Arab land and to build Jewish settlements to make the areas more secure.
• how did arabs feel

  • they blamed their defeat on the USA and european powers whom they accused of helping Israel in the war.
  • Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Libya agreed to pay £135 million annually to Egypt and Jordan as a compensation for their losses in the war.
  • the USSR decided to replace the weapons
• what was UN resolution 242

  • in November 1967, the UN security council unanimously passed resolution 242 which called for permanent peace on :
  • the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.
  • respect for the right of every state in the area ' to live in peace within secure and recognised boundaries, free from threats or acts of force.'