Originally Posted By: Turnbull
Originally Posted By: Dapper_Don
Facts are facts, First of all, the Palestinians did NOT attack Israel first in 1967. The contrary is correct.

The Six-Day War fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria. After a period of high tension between Israel and its neighbors, [b]the war began on June 5 with Israel launching surprise air strikes against Arab forces.


Let's look at the period of "high tension":

May 15: President Nasser of Egypt ordered two armored divisions into the Sinai Peninsula.

May 17: Nasser ordered UNEF, the UN force in the Sinai, to depart from Egyptian territory. Three Egyptian divisions and 600 tanks then deployed in the Sinai.

May 22: Nasser announced the closure of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, cutting off all shipping to Israel’s port of Eilat. which was responsible for 30% of israel's exports.
Nasser's move was also illegal. As part of the post-1956 war settlement, the Gulf of Aqaba had been declared by maritime nations in 1957 as an international waterway.

May 25: Nasser, in a speech to the Egyptian National Assembly, said: "The problem presently before the Arab countries is not whether the port of Eilat should be blockaded or how to blockade it - but how to totally exterminate the State of Israel for all time."

May 30: Mutual defense pact signed between Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

But, you're right: Israel did strike first. What a bunch of warmongers! Why would a peace-loving state ever take seriously an extermination threat from a neighboring state and its Soviet-armed allies?


I agree there was high tension but I was just making a point that Israel did technically strike first thats all.

The Israeli view was that its initiation of the Six-Day War was a pre-emptive strike in the face of a planned invasion of Israel by the Arab countries.A number of sources support this view.

On the other hand, the Arab view was that it was an unprovoked attack.The view that the Arab states were not a threat justifying a preemptive strike is also supported by a number of sources.

After the war senior Israelis have acknowledged that Israel wasn't, in fact, expecting to be invaded when it initiated hostilities against Egypt.

Neither U.S. nor Israeli intelligence assessed that there was any kind of serious threat of an Egyptian attack.On the contrary, both considered the possibility that Egypt might invade as being extremely slim.

Last edited by Dapper_Don; 03/06/12 11:26 PM.
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