The Six-Day War (1967)

Mounting tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors, particularly Syria, escalated sharply in early 1967. Syria sponsored Palestinian fedayeen raids into Israel, and Israeli-Syrian clashes over disputed demilitarized zones and water rights intensified. The Soviet Union provided intelligence to Egypt falsely claiming that Israel was massing troops on the Syrian border.

Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser ordered the withdrawal of the UN Emergency Force from the Sinai Peninsula on May 16 and moved Egyptian troops into the area. On May 22, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, blockading the port of Eilat - an action Israel had previously declared a casus belli. Nasser stated the goal was to restore Arab rights to Palestine.

Jordan's King Hussein signed a mutual defense pact with Egypt on May 30, placing Jordanian forces under Egyptian command. Iraq, Kuwait, and Algeria also committed troops to the Arab coalition. Arab leaders made increasingly bellicose statements about driving Israel into the sea. In response, Israel formed a national unity government, bringing opposition leader Moshe Dayan into the cabinet as defense minister.

Israel launched Operation Focus, a massive preemptive air strike at 7:45 AM on June 5. In three hours, Israeli aircraft destroyed over 300 Egyptian aircraft on the ground, most without taking off. Subsequent strikes destroyed the Syrian and Jordanian air forces. Israel achieved complete air superiority for the remainder of the war, having destroyed 90 percent of Egyptian aircraft and all Syrian and Jordanian airfields.

Israeli ground forces advanced into the Sinai Peninsula and captured the Gaza Strip. Israeli armored divisions under Generals Israel Tal and Ariel Sharon broke through Egyptian defenses. The Egyptian army, lacking air cover and with its command structure disrupted, retreated in disarray. By June 7, Israel had reached the Suez Canal and secured all of Sinai.

After Jordanian forces shelled West Jerusalem in accordance with the Egyptian-Jordanian defense pact, Israel launched a counteroffensive. By June 7, Israeli forces had captured East Jerusalem and the Old City, including the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site. Israeli forces also took control of the entire West Bank from Jordan. The capture of Jerusalem was celebrated in Israel but drew international criticism.

Israel turned its attention to the Syrian front, launching an assault on the heavily fortified Golan Heights on June 9. After fierce fighting against Syrian artillery positions and fortified lines, Israeli forces captured the strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel. The victory came at a cost of 115 Israeli dead. The entire campaign lasted less than 24 hours and secured Israel's northern border.

A UN-brokered ceasefire took effect on June 10-11, 1967, ending the war. Israel now occupied the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Golan Heights - territory totaling about 70,000 square kilometers (27,000 square miles), three times Israel's pre-war size. Arab leaders met at the Khartoum Conference in August 1967 and issued the "Three Noes": no peace, no recognition, and no negotiation with Israel. The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, calling for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories in exchange for peace and recognition. The war strengthened Palestinian nationalism and marked the beginning of the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.