Coincidences in the Six-Day War

 

The 1967 Six-Day War significantly extended the borders of the State of Israel. That this war happened at all was due to misinformation and miscalculations on the part of a military alliance between Egypt and Syria, and which later including Jordan.

 

Since Israel’s 1948 War of Independence the armistice line between Israel and Syria had been an unstable one, and there was little deterrence for Syria to shell Israeli settlements below the Golan Heights. It seems that Egypt was informed by Russia that Israel was massing troops on the Syrian border - which was untrue. The Egyptian president Nasser therefore massed his troops and demanded that the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) leave the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza. UNEF promptly did so. Egypt then took over these UNEF positions at Sharm El-Sheikh overlooking the Straits of Tiran and announced the closure of the Straits of Tiran to all Israeli shipping. Israel had repeatedly declared that such a closure would trigger war, as it effectively severed trade between Israel and Asia and Africa. The role of UNEF had been to prevent this scenario. To extricate itself from this stranglehold, Israel had little choice but to initiate a pre-emptive attack against Egypt and Syria, an attack for which neither of these two countries was prepared.

 

On May 5 Israel took a tremendous gamble by committing most of its air force to a surprise attack on Egyptian airfields. The entire Egyptian air force was effectively wiped out. Israel did the same to two-thirds of the Syrian air force. From this point on, Israel had complete air superiority over its enemies. Israel also launched a ground offensive into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip.

 

There was no initial Israeli plan to take over the Golan Heights, although the conflict with Syria was one of the main reasons for the outbreak of this war. However, the army felt it would be too costly. Israel had full information about the positions of the Syrian fortifications from the spying of Eli Cohen. However, attacking fortifications in the Golan would have to be done while advancing uphill over rocky terrain, putting Israeli forces at a tremendous disadvantage. Nevertheless, there was now considerable pressure on Israel’s politicians and army leaders to finally settle the problem of Syria. Egypt, Syria and the world powers were already clamoring for a ceasefire. It was now or never.

 

On the morning of June 9, Israel went on the offensive in the Golan. The Syrian fortifications were too well built to be destroyed by air power and they had to be captured by close quarter fighting with infantry. This turned out to be costly in terms of human life for both sides. Nevertheless, by the evening the Israeli army had broken through the first line of Syrian defenses. The next morning the Syrian chief of staff instructed all Syrian forces to destroy their posts and to retreat past Quneitra to defend Damascus. Israel immediately took advantage of this situation and stormed ahead to Quneitra. By June 10, the entire Golan Heights was in Israeli hands. A ceasefire with Syria was signed the following day.

 

Raised on Biblical narratives, many Israelis saw the victory of the Six-Day War in almost miraculous terms. Achieving a decisive victory in only six days against three protagonists had never been described in the annals of ancient and modern warfare. There were also some unusual coincidences. The attacking wave of Israeli aircraft on the first day of the war was detected by a new Jordanian radar. This information was sent to the Egyptians but they were unable to decipher the communicating code. It had been changed that morning and the Jordanians were still using the old code. The Egyptians ordered their anti-aircraft units to cease any firing between 7.00 to 8.00 a.m. because of an air tour scheduled over Sinai by the Egyptian Deputy Minister and War Minister with an Iraqi delegation. Any firing had to be approved. This was the exact time of the Israeli attack. A routine aircraft reconnaissance mission was also delayed that morning because the Deputy Commander left his home late because of a party for pilots the previous evening. After the attack, the Egyptians failed to tell the Jordanians that their air force had been decimated. Now under Egyptian command, the Jordanians initiated firing into Israel, even though Israel begged them to stay out of the war. This would lead to Jordan losing their West Bank and Jerusalem, as Israel was forced to respond to their firing. The Syrian command also had an inaccurate impression that the battle for the Golan was lost and therefore ordered a retreat to defend Damascus. Damascus Radio also broadcast an erroneous report that Quneitra had fallen to the Israelis. This led to a mass exodus of soldiers and civilians eastward, and by the time the Israelis took over the Golan Heights it was almost empty of inhabitants.

 

This six-day victory provided Israel with the strategic depth it needed in Judea, Samaria and the Golan. Capture of the Golan also enabled Israel to control much of its water sources. While there was considerable ambivalence in the Israeli government about what to do with the West Bank, this was not the case for the Golan Heights. The entire Golan Heights was annexed in 1981. No overtures for peace had been forthcoming from Syria prior to this time.