Six Day War
The Six Day War was fought in 1967 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states including Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria.
Before the war, the Arabs committed several acts of war. The Syrians bombarded towns in northern Israel with artillery. The Egyptians blockaded the Straits of Tiran, closing the port of Eilat and preventing Israeli trade with Asia, South Africa, and Australia.
Additionally, the Egyptians ordered United Nations peacekeepers out of the buffer zone between Egypt and Israel. The UN complied with this order, leaving the border unguarded by any international force. Arab radio announced the impending "extermination of Zionist existence".
Israel launched a preemptive attack, and the war was an overwhelming Israeli victory. Israel captured the Sinai, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the West Bank.
Aftermath of the war[edit]
The victory for tiny Israel has had significant repercussions in the area.
EGYPT: Israeli control of the Sinai created a buffer between it and Egypt, until the Sinai was returned in 1978. Palestinian Arab factions continue to burrow under the border to smuggle guns into the Gaza Strip. Checkpoints remain for those seeking entry into Israel both for terrorist intent and for refugees to abandon the Dark Ages societies of Arab nations for the modern industrial society of Israel.
GAZA: After decades of expending energies in preventing Palestinian Arab terrorist incursions into Israel, Israeli forces were withdrawn from the Gaza Strip. They left behind state-of-the-art greenhouse facilities which the Arabs immediately destroyed. Checkpoints from Gaza into Israel remain.
GOLAN HEIGHTS: Long the high land from which Syrians would launch missiles into Israel, this part of Israel is now a flourishing peaceful area for agriculture and recreation.
WEST BANK: With the 6-mile distance between former Arab territory and Tel Aviv enlarged significantly, terrorist rockets currently lack the sophistication to destroy Tel Aviv, one of the world's great sophisticated metropolises. Instead, Arab and Muslim suicide bombers of both sexes and all ages detonated themselves inside Israel. As a result, Israel built a wall to keep the barbarians out of their land. Although condemned by the Arab-dominated feckless United Nations, the wall has been effective. Suicide bombings of Tel Aviv discos, restaurants, and beach fronts, and elsewhere within Israel have virtually ceased.
PEACE NEGOTIATIONS: Although the Palestinian charter retains its major focus, the annihilation of Israel, "peace negotiations" are held periodically. The Arabs demand, out of weakness except for U.N. backing, return of the Golan Heights, return of the West Bank, and the "right of return" of Arabs ousted in the war. By such, they are refusing Israel the ten-thousand year paradigm of retaining lands won in war. Return of such lands, with the improving rocketry of Arab countries, would be tantamount to an existential catastrophe.