The 1967 Arab-Israeli war

¶ … mistreated for their beliefs. This has been apparent within the last century due to the fact that many as six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. From there, religious conflicts have continued in Israel and the Middle East. It is common knowledge that the cause of the conflict between the Jews and Arabs over their homeland that they cannot compromise about. They both claim that the land belongs to one of them but not both, which caused Israel's government to use military force.

From there, another reason why they used military force was due to nationalism because it was another cause for conflict. This was due to the fact that Zionism was an ideology and national movement that grew in Europe during the 1800s, proclaiming that all the Jewish people had the right to exist in a safe homeland of their own, which most did not agree with. Furthermore, the Jewish people believed that Israel was their homeland, because Jerusalem had never been the independent home and capital of any other people except for them. "On June 5, 1967, Israel was indeed alone, but its military commanders had conceived a brilliant war strategy. The entire Israeli Air Force, with the exception of just 12 fighters assigned to defend Israeli air space, took off at 7:14 A.M. with the intent of bombing Egyptian airfields while the Egyptian pilots were eating breakfast. In less than 2 hours, roughly 300 Egyptian aircraft were destroyed. A few hours later, Israeli fighters attacked the Jordanian and Syrian air forces, as well as one airfield in Iraq. By the end of the first day, nearly the entire Egyptian and Jordanian air forces, and half the Syrians', had been destroyed on the ground (the 1967 Six-Day War). This, within itself made them to seek out military force. Therefore, this war has continue for decades and will progress for many years because no one wants to give up their homeland, which they have claimed for their people and made them take military force.

The actions that were up for decision

According to Kofi Annan, Israel would not have any thing to say if they did not feel like their existence was not being threatened. From there, the international world does not have every right to criticize Israel for its continued occupation of Palestinian and Syrian territory, and for its response to the Intifada. " Israel has a right, enshrined in numerous United Nations resolutions, to exist in safety within internationally recognized borders... What we need is movement towards an agreement that responds both to the legitimate desire of the Palestinians for national independence, and to the legitimate claims of the Israelis to recognition and security" (Issue: Israeli Statehood). The issues of the conflict are due to borders: specific, fixed, agreed-upon boundaries for Israel and for the Arab states in the region. That consist of Palestinian state or political entity is created (History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict).

Furthermore, Israel wants to claim Jerusalem as their homeland because they feel that they are the settlers of it while they have already found settlement there because the political, civil, and national status of approximately 400,000 Jewish Israelis currently living on occupied land within the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip (History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict). They also way the right to return to the political, civil, and national status of Palestinians currently living outside the borders of the historic Palestines (History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict).

Furthermore they are entitled to compensation for Palestinians and Israelis who had to leave by force in order to leave behind their homes and property, which became a result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict). The allocation of resources such as water among the region's people is all of they want along with the security for all states. From they also want the following to happen so that they can live in peace fc

Political, civil, and national status of Palestinians currently living within Israel

Economic viability of all the states in the region. Role of the international community in supervising a negotiated settlement (History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict).

Tony Blair, British Prime Minister states the following "If we want a viable Palestinian state, we need to make sure that the political, the economic, and the security infrastructure of that state is shaped and helped to come into being. We will mobilize international opinion and the international community in order to do that" (Issue: Palestinian Statehood). "As long as it is reached by an agreement, not a unilateral act, and there is no army there -- just a demilitarized zone with restrictions on the size of the police force and the number of heavy weapons. And there should be understandings and cooperation on the economy. If they should decide to make their area a free-trade zone, they could destroy us. There must be open borders between the Palestinian entity and Israel. Practically, there is a Palestinian state in creation. The Arabs should not take any unilateral steps, because Israel will have to annex those areas under our control" (Issue: Palestinian Statehood).

Since Israel had been attacked before, the government did not want to wait for the Arab leaders to attach. They felt this choice was out of their hands in order to protect themselves from being destroyed again (1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East).

Israel did not wait to see if Arab leaders would fulfill their promises. On June 5, 1967 -- 40 years ago last week -- the Israelis struck. In an attack lasting a little over an hour, the Israeli air force destroyed more than 250 Egyptian planes, and Israeli ground forces broke through Egyptian lines in Sinai. Israel had urged Jordan to stay out of the war, but Jordanian artillery began shelling West Jerusalem and suburban Tel Aviv, and Jordanian warplanes struck Israeli coastal cities. From atop the Golan Heights, Syrian gunners rained thousands of shells onto Israeli farms in Galilee. Though faced with a multi-front war, the Israelis fought vigorously, first driving the Egyptians out of Sinai and Gaza and the Jordanians out of the West Bank and Jerusalem. They then silenced the Syrian guns and captured the Golan Heights. In six extraordinary days, Israel's citizen soldiers had defeated three major Arab armies and captured territories four times the size of pre-1967 Israel (1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East).

In 1948, after the state of Israel was established, Israel was imposed by the Arab, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, which caused the War of Independence. For fifteen months, Israel fought a war where they could not defend themselves properly because they did not have the proper equipment and professional soldiers. They attempted peace on July 18, 1948, however no one could keep it even when the United Nations appointed a mediator to arrange an end to the hostilities, which means this decision of peace making was not the Israel's government decision to be in control of.. From there, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was introduced. The above events led to Israel's government decision to use military force in the Six Day War, which was between Israel and the Egyptian and Syrian armies. They wanted to gain land so that they would have a sense of control after being defeated in the past. As it can be seen from the following, this is why Israel chose military force on the other countries in which Israel defeated Egyptian, Syrian, and Jordanian forces to gain the Sinai, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the West Bank

In this way, a direct threat along the whole length of Israel's territory was created. The Egyptian Army was deployed in the Sinai, the straits were closed signaling the failure of Israeli deterrence, and Jordan joined the military alliance closing the circle of the states threatening Israel's borders. As the situation deteriorated, Israel increased its reserve forces call-up which had already been underway and established a National Unity government which included representatives of the opposition parties at that time. Moshe Dayan was appointed Minister of Defense. Though the Government of Israel viewed the closing of the straits as a belligerent act and a warning bell, the government tried to solve the crisis through political channels. The government of Israel approached the Great Powers who had guaranteed the freedom of Israeli navigation. Britain and France reneged on their commitment and the President of the United States proposed a plan for breaking the blockade by an international armada. Israel agreed to wait and give the plan a chance and Prime Minister Eshkol announced his Government's intentions in a radio broadcast on 28 May. Israel's decision to wait was taken despite the fact that it was well aware that the main threat had now become the Egyptian deployment in the Sinai and not the closing of the straits. When it became clear later that the political demarches had failed, the Government, on June 4 gave approval to the Israel Defense Forces to undertake military offensive to eliminate the threat to Israel's existence (Six Day War).

Since after May 1948 the Arab-Israeli has dominated the Middle East because both sides feel that Israel/Palestine belongs to them, it influenced the Israel's government to use military force against them.. With that, four major Arab-Israeli wars and numerous sporadic battles have occurred since the United Nations partition of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948. Unfortunately, in today modern, these issues still have fueled many armed conflicts and suicide bombs between the two developing nations. However, at the time of the Six Day War, the issues with the Middle East countries influenced the Israel's government decision to fight with military force.

The breakup of the U.A.R. And the resulting political instability only made Syria more hostile toward Israel. Another major cause of conflict was Syria's resistance to Israel's creation of a National Water Carrier to take water from the Jordan River to supply the country. The Syrian army used the Golan Heights, which tower 3,000 feet above the Galilee, to shell Israeli farms and villages. Syria's attacks grew more frequent in 1965 and 1966, forcing children living on kibbutzim in the Huleh Valley to sleep in bomb shelters. Israel repeatedly protested the Syrian bombardments to the UN Mixed Armistice Commission, which was charged with policing the cease-fire, but the UN did nothing to stop Syria's aggression -- even a mild Security Council resolution expressing "regret" for such incidents was vetoed by the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Israel was condemned by the United Nations when it retaliated (the 1967 Six-Day War).

Arab nationalists did not agree with the Balfour declaration, the mandate and the Jewish National Home. This unfortunately caused fights against Jews in Jerusalem, Hebron, Jaffa and Haifa, which led to the Haganah Jewish self-defense organization in 1920 while the riots contributed to the fears that the Arabs of Palestine would be dispossessed. This was most likely attempts to show the British that Palestine as a Jewish National home would be ungovernable. The major instigators were Hajj Amin El Husseini, later Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and eventually a Nazi collaborator, and Arif -El Arif, a prominent Palestinian journalist (Israel and Palestine: A Brief History).

The main effort of Israeli armor was directed toward the Egyptian forces deployed in fortifications in the eastern parts of the Sinai and in the Gaza Strip, which consisted of 7 divisions with a total of about 100,000 soldiers, approximately 1,000 tanks and hundreds of artillery pieces. The Israel Defense Forces went against this disposition with a force of three divisions composed of armored, infantry and paratrooper brigades, as well as an independent mechanized brigade and an independent infantry brigade reinforced with paratroopers and armor. The fighting lasted four days, in a single, continuous momentum. Aware of the fact that the war could well last only a few days and that it was imperative to achieve a rapid victory, the IDF concentrated all of its armored strength in order to break through the Egyptian disposition. This was a fast attack forward, without securing the flanks and transportation axes. Very quickly, the Egyptian dispositions were broken through despite their initial resolute resistance (Six Day War).

Arab standard of living increased faster in Palestine than other areas, and population grew prodigiously throughout the Mandate years. The riots were also fueled by false rumors that the Jews intended to build a synagogue at the wailing wall, or otherwise encroach upon the Muslim rule over the Temple Mount compound, including the Al-Aqsa mosque. The pogroms led to evacuation of most of the Jewish community of Hebron.. The British responded with the Passfield White Paper. The white paper attempted to stop immigration to Palestine based on the recommendations of the Hope Simpson report. That report stated that in the best case, following extensive economic development, the land could support immigration of another 20,000 families in total (Israel and Palestine: A Brief History).