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Infocusquarterly SIX DAYS and FIFTY YEARS VOL. 11 ISSUE 2 | SPRING 2017 inFOCUSQUARTERLY SIX DAYS AND FIFTY YEARS Herbert London Provides Recollections of the Six Day War | State Department Historian on U.S. Policy | Gamal Abdel Nasser in His Own Words | Michael Bar-Zohar on Miscalculations Before the Conflict | Abba Eban Describes the War | Joshua Muravchik on Israel at the United Nations | Eric Rozenman and the War on Campus | Eugene V. Rostow on Self-Determination | Ehud Eilam on How Threats Have Changed | Juliana Geran Pilon reviews Nasser's Peace | Maps by Martin Gilbert Featuring an Interview with Michael Oren, Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER n 1945, the dazed remnants of Eu- The Spring 2017 issue of inFOCUS ropean Jewry crawled out of charnel looks back at the war and the evolution- houses, basements and forests. Six mil- ary trends it produced with original source inFOCUS VOLUME 11 | ISSUE 2 lion Jews had been killed in the Holo- material from Abba Eban, Gamal Abdel Publisher: Matthew Brooks I Editor: Shoshana Bryen caust; one-third of all Jews. Less than two Nasser, Eugene V. Rostow, and the U.S. Associate Editor: Michael Johnson decades later, the three million Jews of Department of State. Michael Bar Zohar Copy Editors: Eric Rozenman Israel faced a declared determination by limns Israeli politics. Herbert London of- Shari Hillman Egypt to marshal its allies and finish the fers a personal recollection with his analy- Karen McCormick job. Israelis believed it could happen – sis, as does Eric Rozenman. Joshua Murav- rabbis debated the religious implications chik traces the movement of the United inFOCUS is published by the of mass graves. But in six days of war, Nations from friend and protector of Israel Jewish Policy Center, Israel’s military muscle and equal deter- to increasingly hostile bane. Ehud Eilam 50 F Street, NW, Suite 100, mination to control the fate of its people follows Israeli and military capabilities Washington, DC 20001. decimated Arab armies from then until now. Guest (202) 638-2411 on three sides, acquired reviewer Juliana Geran Pi- vast stretches of territory lon surveys Nasser’s Peace: Follow us on JewishPolicyCenter @theJPC it did not seek and large Egypt’s Response to the 1967 numbers of people it had War with Israel, by Michael The opinions expressed in inFOCUS do not planned to rule. It Sharnoff. not necessarily reflect those of the Jewish also unified Jerusalem, the And don’t miss our Policy Center, its board, or its officers. capital of the Jewish people and the well- interview with Israeli Member of Knesset To begin or renew your subscription, please spring of Jewish history and religion. Is- and Deputy Minister for Diplomacy Mi- contact us: [email protected] rael was a different country on June 11th chael Oren. © 2017 Jewish Policy Center than it had been on June 5th – how differ- If you appreciate what you’ve read, I ent was not yet clear. encourage you to make a contribution to WRITERS’ GUIDELINES Machiavelli said a country should the Jewish Policy Center. As always, you Essays must be 1,600 to 2,000 words make maximum changes in its favor at can use our secure site: in length. Email submissions to info@ the moment of its maximum power. Most http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/donate jewishpolicycenter.org. countries don’t know their moment of Sincerely, maximum power until they look back at www.JewishPolicyCenter.org it. After six days plus 50 years, the earth- quake of the Six Day War continues to Matthew Brooks, throw off aftershocks. Executive Director HERBERT I. LONDON, Ph.D., is President of the London JOSHUA MURAVCHIK, Ph.D., is a distinguished fellow at Center for Policy Research. (3) the World Affairs Institute. (26) State Department Office of the Historian (6) ERIC ROZENMAN is a communications consultant at the Featuring Jewish Policy Center. (31) GAMAL ABDEL NASSER (1918-1970) was the second President of Egypt, serving from 1956 until 1970. (8) EHUD EILAM, Ph.D., served in the IDF and worked as a private contractor for the Israeli Ministry of Defense. (33) MICHAEL BAR-ZOHAR, Ph.D., is an Israeli historian who served as a Member of the Knesset from 1981 to 1992. (11) JULIANA GERAN PILON, Ph.D., is a Senior Fellow at the ABBA EBAN (2015-2002) served as Israel's Minister of Alexander Hamilton Institute. (37) Foreign Affairs from 1966–1974. (14) SIR MARTIN GILBERT (1936-2015) was an honorary Fellow EUGENE V. ROSTOW (1913-2002) served as Under Secre- of Merton College, University of Oxford. (10, 15, 28, and 36) tary of State for Political Afairs. (18) MICHAEL OREN, Ph.D., is a Memeber of the Knesset and served as Israel's ambassador to the United States from 2009 to 2013. (22) Reflections on the Six Day War by HERBERT I. LONDON was listening to a radio broadcast in Israeli reprisals. My apprehensions grew thousands of refugees and brought more my dormitory room at the Australian as the attacks became more organized than one million Palestinians in the National University in Canberra. The and bloody than they had been earlier. By conquered territories under Israeli rule. I on-air analyst said Arab troops were May 1967, President Gamal Abdel Nasser In 1967 the full effect of victory could mobilizing for a full-scale attack. Ap- had mobilized Egyptian forces in the Si- not be appreciated. Israel’s military was proximately 465,000 troops, more than nai and closed the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli the dominant force in the region. The 2800 tanks, and 800 aircraft ringed Is- shipping, thus effectively cutting all trade Jewish people, known throughout his- rael. This was half a century ago, on June to the port city of Eilat. On May 30th, tory for their passivity, had transformed 3, 1967 – two days before the war finally King Hussein of Jordan arrived in Cairo themselves into the lions of the Middle broke out, but it seems like yesterday to to sign a mutual defense pact with Egypt. East. Borsht Belt comedians would soon me. It was the beginning of the Six Day In response to the mobilization and contend that we should trade General War. At the outset, it appeared as if the the fear of being overrun, Israel staged Motors for General Dayan. very existence of Israel was imperiled. a sudden preemptive air assault on June At the United Arab Republic Na- I recall = my dad listening intently 5th that destroyed more than 90 percent tional Assembly [March 26, 1964] on his old Philco radio to a vote at the of Egypt’s air force on the tarmac. A simi- Nasser said, “The danger of Israel lies United Nations 19 years earlier on the es- lar air assault incapacitated the Syrian air in the very existence of Israel as it is in tablishment of the State of Israel. When force. Without air cover, the Egyptian the present and in what she represents.” the final tally was in, my father cried. As army was vulnerable to attack and defeat. After ’67 the comment seemed hollow. a very young man I tried to console him, Within three days, victory was at hand Yet cries for the destruction of Israel, but he said these were tears of joy. “At with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) its eradication, still could be heard. last we are recognized.” capturing the Gaza Strip, all of the Sinai In fact, these cries became even more War broke out almost immediately, Peninsula up to the east bank of the Suez shrill over time. The creation of a new since Arab leaders refused to accept the UN decision. My dad began collecting Israel, a geographic splinter in the Middle East and an weapons from Jews who served in World War II and had retained rifles and pis- obvious long-shot to survive with its rag-tag population tols. He wrapped the weapons in towels mercilessly oppressed by the Holocaust, had been and sheets and deposited them in car- transformed from underdog to top dog. tons ultimately delivered to ships bound for Palestine. Now it was my turn to do some- Canal and driving Jordanian forces out refugee population and an enlargement thing for this beloved, fledging state of of East Jerusalem and most of the West of the old refugee problem exaggerated Israel. I called the Israeli Embassy in Bank. The lopsidedness of the defeat de- the public posture of the conquering Is- Australia and asked what I could do. moralized the Arab public and political raeli state. Israel now ruled more than a An elderly gentleman said, “We will put elites. In Israel, there was euphoria as million Palestinians, most of who were your name on a list as a volunteer for the films of Israeli troops taking control of hostile to the government. Israel had Israeli Defense Force.” It wasn’t much of the Old City of Jerusalem and soldiers secured enough territory to more than a gesture, but it made me feel as if I had praying at the Wall proved to be the war’s triple the size of the area it controlled, done something. By the time a ship was iconic images. from 8,000 to 26,000 square miles. found and organized to deliver all vol- In November 1967, the United Na- unteers like me, the war was over. ❚❚A New Phase of Conflict tions Security Council adopted Resolu- Prior to the start of war, attacks con- But the Six-Day War also marked tion 242, which established a formula ducted against Israel by Palestinian mili- the beginning of a new phase in the for Arab-Israeli peace.
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