Short And Bloody, The Six-Day War Influencing The Geopolitics Of The Middle East To The Present

Photo illustration of the Six Day War (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - On June 5, 1967, a war broke out. Short, but bloody. The war involved Israeli forces facing off against troops from Arab countries, such as Egypt, Syria and Jordan. This battle was known as the "Six Day War."

The war was inevitable, despite years of diplomatic friction. The attack was started by the Israeli defense forces. They launched a preemptive air strike that paralyzed the Egyptian and allied air forces.

Long before the Israeli attack, in 1948 to be precise, following the dispute over the establishment of Israel, a coalition of Arab states launched an invasion of the nascent Jewish state as part of the 1st Arab-Israeli War. However, the invasion failed.

The second major conflict known as the Suez Crisis erupted in 1956, when Israel, Britain and France carried out controversial attacks on Egypt. The attack was a response to the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

An era of relative calm prevailed in the Middle East during the late 1950s and early 1960s. But the political situation continues to be on the line. Arab leaders were saddened by their military losses.

In addition, there are hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees due to Israel's victory in the 1948 war. Meanwhile, many Israelis continue to believe that they face an existential threat from Egypt and other Arab countries.

The Six Day War broke out

Launching History, a series of border disputes became the main trigger for the Six Day War. In the mid-1960s, Syrian-backed Palestinian guerrillas began carrying out attacks on the Israeli border. They provoked Palestinian guerrillas to mount a counterattack against the Israeli Defense Forces.

In April 1967, skirmishes took a turn for the worse after Israel and Syria fought air and artillery battles, in which six Syrian fighter jets were destroyed. After the air battles in April, the Soviet Union notified Egyptian intelligence that Israel was moving troops to its northern border with Syria in preparation for a full-scale invasion.

The information is inaccurate, but it still puts Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser into action. In showing support for his Syrian ally, President Nasser ordered Egyptian troops to advance to the Sinai Peninsula. Egyptian forces then drove out a UN peacekeeping force that has guarded the border with Israel for more than a decade.

The tension was increasing. In the days that followed, Nasser continued to vibrate the sword. However, on May 22, 1967, he blocked the process of shipping Israeli needs from the Tiran Strait, the sea route connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. A week later, Nasser sealed a defense pact with King Hussein of Jordan.

As the situation in the Middle East worsened, then US President, Lyndon B. Johnson, warned both sides not to fire the first shot. It is also seeking to garner support for international maritime operations to reopen the Straits of Tiran.

However, that plan never materialized. In early June 1967, Israeli leaders fought the Arab military by launching a preemptive strike. On June 5, 1967, the Israeli Defense Forces initiated Operation Focus, a coordinated air strike against Egypt. That morning, about 200 planes took off from Israel and dived west over the Mediterranean before invading Egypt from the north.

After shockingly capturing the Egyptians, Israeli forces attacked 18 different airfields and obliterated about 90 percent of the Egyptian air force. Israel then expanded its range of attacks and destroyed the Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi air forces. At the end of the day on June 5, Israeli pilots won complete control of the Middle East skies.

Do not remain silent. Israel secures victory by establishing air superiority. But fierce fighting continued for several days. The ground war in Egypt also began on June 5, as Israeli air strikes, tanks and infantry invaded, crossed the border and into the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip.

The Egyptian forces fought back, although later fell apart, after Supreme Commander Abdel Hakim Amer ordered the troops to withdraw. Over the next few days, Israeli forces pursued the Egyptians who had been diverted to Sinai. Casualties fell.

The second front in the Six Day War took place on 5 June. Jordan at that time reacted to false reports about Egypt's victory. Jordanian troops start shelling Israeli positions in Jerusalem. Israel responded with a counterattack that devastated East Jerusalem and the West Bank. On June 7, Israeli forces captured Jerusalem and celebrated it by praying at the Western Wall.

The final phase of fighting takes place along Israel's northeastern border with Syria. On June 9, after intense aerial bombardment, Israeli tanks and infantry advanced on the heavily fortified Syrian territory called the Golan Heights. They caught the Golan the following day.

On June 10, 1967, a United Nations-brokered ceasefire entered into force and the Six Day War ended. It was then estimated that about 20 thousand Arabs and eight hundred Israelis died in just 132 hours of fighting.

Post-War Six Days

The leaders of Arab countries were very surprised by their defeat. Egyptian President Nasser even resigned in disgrace. He returned to office after the Egyptians showed their support by staging massive demonstrations.

In Israel, the atmosphere is very happy. In less than a week, the country had captured the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.

The Six Day War also had important geopolitical consequences in the Middle East. The victory in the war caused a surge of national pride in Israel, but it also fanned the flames of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Still wounded by their defeat in the Six Day War, Arab leaders met in Khartoum, Sudan, in August 1967. During the meeting, they signed a resolution promising "no peace, no recognition and no negotiations" with Israel.

By claiming the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel also absorbs more than one million Palestinian Arabs. Several hundred thousand Palestinians later fled Israeli rule. This exacerbated the refugee crisis that had occurred during the First Arab-Israeli War in 1948.

Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in 1982 as part of a peace agreement and then withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005. However, until now, Israel has continued to occupy and build up the territories claimed in the Six Day War, particularly the Golan Heights and the West Bank. The status of these territories continues to be a stumbling block in Arab-Israeli peace negotiations.