Six-Day War

In June 1967, a brief but intense conflict broke out between Israel and a coalition of Arab states—chiefly Egypt, Syria, and Jordan—lasting from the 5th to the 10th. By the time a ceasefire was in place, Israel had seized the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria.

Tensions had been building for years. After the 1949 armistice that ended the first Arab-Israeli war, relations remained strained. In 1956, Egypt’s closure of the Straits of Tiran—a key maritime passage for Israel’s southern port of Eilat—sparked the Suez Crisis, leading to an invasion by Israel, Britain, and France. That crisis ended with the straits reopened and a United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) stationed along the Egypt-Israel border.

In the months before June 1967, the situation deteriorated again. Israel had made clear since 1956 that another blockade of the Straits of Tiran would be grounds for war. In May, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser announced the straits would again be closed to Israeli vessels, mobilized his army along the border, and demanded the immediate withdrawal of all UNEF personnel.

The war began on June 5 with Operation Focus, a surprise Israeli air assault on Egyptian airfields and facilities as UNEF was leaving. The attack caught Egypt off guard, destroying nearly its entire air force and giving Israel air superiority. Israeli ground forces then moved into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. After initial resistance, Nasser ordered a withdrawal from the Sinai, and by the fourth day Israel controlled the entire peninsula. Jordan, which had signed a defense pact with Egypt a week earlier, did not launch a full offensive but attacked Israeli troops to slow their advance. On the fifth day, Syria entered the war by shelling Israeli positions in the north.

Ceasefires followed quickly: Egypt and Jordan agreed on June 8, Syria on June 9, and a formal agreement with Israel was signed on June 11. Arab fatalities exceeded 15,000; Israeli losses were under 1,000. Among the non-combatant dead were 20 Israeli civilians killed in Arab air raids on Jerusalem, 15 UN peacekeepers killed by Israeli strikes in the Sinai at the start of the war, and 34 U.S. personnel killed when Israeli forces mistakenly attacked the USS Liberty, an American spy ship.

When the fighting stopped, Israel held the Golan Heights from Syria, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Sinai and Gaza from Egypt. The war caused large-scale displacement: roughly 280,000 to 325,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from the West Bank, and about 100,000 Syrians from the Golan Heights. Nasser resigned in disgrace after the defeat but was reinstated following protests across Egypt. In the aftermath, Egypt closed the Suez Canal, keeping it shut from 1967 until 1975.

Background

After the 1956 Suez Crisis, Egypt allowed UNEF to remain in the Sinai to enforce the 1949 armistice. In the following years, minor border clashes occurred, especially between Israel and Syria. In November 1966, Syrian President Nureddin al-Atassi signed a mutual defense pact with Egypt. Shortly after, in response to PLO guerrilla activity—including a mine attack that killed three—Israeli forces struck the village of as-Samu in the Jordanian-controlled West Bank. Jordanian units that engaged the Israelis were quickly repelled. King Hussein of Jordan publicly criticized Nasser for not helping Jordan and for “hiding behind UNEF skirts.”

In May 1967, Nasser received false Soviet reports that Israel was massing troops on the Syrian border. He moved his own forces into two defensive lines in the Sinai on Israel’s border (May 16), expelled UNEF from Gaza and the Sinai (May 19), and took over UNEF positions at Sharm el-Sheikh, overlooking the Straits of Tiran. Israel repeated its 1957 warning that any closure of the straits would be an act of war. On May 22–23, Nasser ordered the straits closed to Israeli shipping. After the war, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson remarked that the single most reckless act leading to the conflict was the decision to close the straits, insisting that innocent maritime passage must be preserved for all nations.

On May 30, Jordan and Egypt signed a defense pact. On May 31, Iraqi President Abdul Rahman Arif agreed to send troops and armor to Jordan, later reinforced by an Egyptian contingent. On June 1, Israel formed a National Unity Government by expanding its cabinet, and on June 4 the decision was made to go to war. The next morning, Israel launched Operation Focus, the surprise air strike that began the conflict.

Military preparation Before the war, Israeli pilots and ground crews had trained extensively in rapid refit procedures.