Fifty Years Ago: Israel's Six-Day War
Dr. Thomas Ice
ÒSuddenly, in six days, the Jewish
people defended themselves, destroyed their enemies, tripled their land;
recaptured control of Jerusalem for the first time in 2,000 years and on the
seventh day they rested. That just
sounded way too Biblical for evangelicals all over the planet and they rejoiced
with the Jewish people."[1]
—Joel
Rosenberg
When
thinking about all of the modern state of IsraelÕs wars, the six-day war
certainly stands out as an amazing accomplishment by the then nineteen-year old
nation. I consider it nothing less
than a major miracle because God was certainly on IsraelÕs side. Everything Israel needed to go right did
go right. The results were
astounding as Israel tripled her land size. The six-day war took place fifty years
ago this June and changed the map in the Middle East in less than a week.
Immediately
after the war IsraelÕs popularity and respect as a nation reached its zenith; but
it has pretty much been downhill since then. I remember hearing replacement
theologian R. C. Sproul admit that he became a premillennialist for a short
time after the six-day war. The six-day
war stimulated current prophecy teacher Dave Reagan to become a
premillennialist and reject the replacement theology he had grown up with. It seemed almost all of American
Evangelicalism was excited about the modern state of Israel and thought of the
new nation in biblical terms.
Before The War
IsraelÕs
six-day war was a defensive war even though Israel struck the enemy in one of
the most successful preemptive strikes ever. The war involved Israel, Egypt, Syria,
and Jordan. For over a month before
the war the Egyptians were preparing to strike Israel on the basis of Russian
intelligence that later proved false.
Egypt moved massive amounts of armor and troops into the Sinai opposite
IsraelÕs border, had the United Nations peacekeeping troops removed from the
Sinai, took over control of the Suez Canal, and implemented a block-aid in the
Gulf of Aqaba that shut down Israeli shipping out of Eilat. (A block-aid such as the Egyptians
executed against Israeli shipping was considered an act of war in the
international community.) The Arab
Street was going crazy-wild in support of EgyptÕs strongman Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918–1970)
throughout the entire Arab world. Syria
and Egypt had earlier signed an agreement with each other promising to come to
the defense of the other if either were attacked.
When
one considers the strength of the Arab armies that were poised to attack
Israel, they certainly had overwhelming strength when compared to IsraelÕs
military resources. The Arabs had a
total of 547,000 troops, 2,504 tanks, and 957 combat aircraft. On the other hand, Israel had 264,000
troops, 800 tanks, and 300 combat aircraft.[2] ÒThere were just over 2.3 million Jews
and a few more than 300,000 Arabs in the countryÓ[3]
at the time of the war.
Hebrew
historian Tom Segev describes the Israeli mindset before the war: ÒBeginning in
1966, more and more Israelis had started to lose faith in themselves and sink
into depression. The doubt was
everywhere, and it led to despair. ÔWhat to do, people, what to do?Õ lamented
songwriter Haim Hefer. ÔNothing
goes right and thereÕs not a drop of good luck . . . /Everything
is depressing and everybody sad/ Things arenÕt working out and no one knows
why.ÕÓ[4] In addition to low moral Òthe year saw a
dreadful economic recession and a sharp drop in immigration.Ó[5] Yet three weeks before the war started
on June 5th another song made its debut to the Israeli public:
ÒJerusalem of Gold.Ó As Israel was
calling up the IDF reserves many were listening to the new song on their
radios. Naomi Shemer wrote the
words and the music which said of Jerusalem that said, its Arab half was a
deserted wilderness, Òapparently unpopulated: ÔWhere the water wells have gone
dry/ The market square is empty/ And no one visits the Temple Mount/ In the Old
City.ÕÓ[6] This song was a great moral bust to the
Jews of Israel who were destined to reclaim the Old City and ascend the Temple
Mount in just a few more days.
The War
Israel
could not afford to carry on a three-front war at the same time since they were
outnumbered three to one. Yet,
Egypt to the south, Syria to the north, and Jordan to the east had all moved
their troops, tanks and artillery to little IsraelÕs borders. Also, Israel could not allow the Arabs
to exercise air power or they would be able to bomb Tel Aviv and many of
IsraelÕs population center that would deal a disastrous blow to the young
country. The Israeli high command
decided to preemptively strike Egypt first since they were the largest threat,
especially their air force. On the
morning of June 5 at 7:45 am 90 percent of IsraelÕs air force hit the Egyptian
airfields and caught them completely by surprise as they were changing from
their night shift to the day shift.
Israel first bombed their runways so their planes could not take off and
then began destroying the entire Egyptian air force. They flew in under the Egyptian radar
and bombed all nineteen airfields.
Israel finished the job by returning to their airbases and the ground
crews turned the planes around and reloaded them in record setting time. A total of three attacks shutdown the
Egyptian air force. At the same
time as the air force attacked the ground war began as Israel tanks moved
through Gaza and into the Sinai where they routed the Egyptians there as
well. Events led to the Egyptians
being totally confused and unable to fight effectively against the speedy
Israeli tank formations supported by the Israel Air Force. In the fog of war they began retreating
and the Israelis had them on the run as the Egyptians headed for the Suez Canal
in complete disarray.
Jordan
was reluctant to enter the war because of the false information coming from the
Egyptians that they were routing the Israelis. Israel had planned to remain in a
defensive position while they attacked Israel. However, at 10:00 am on June 5,
Jordanian artillery began pounding Tel Aviv and later Jerusalem. Israel now had no choice but to extend
the war on the Jordanian front. IsraelÕs
first step was once again to attack Jordanian air bases with their air force and
they eliminated them from the fight.
On the afternoon of June 5 Israel launched an invasion to encircle the
Old City of Jerusalem. During the
night the IDF pounded the Jordanians with artillery and mortar fire in order to
soften them up for an invasion the next day. The next day saw extremely heavy
fighting often hand-to-hand combat.
However, the Israelis steadily advanced toward the Old City from various
positions. On June 7 the fierce
fighting continued. General Moshe
Dayan heard there might be a ceasefire so the Israeli troops make their final
push into the Old City and liberated from the nineteen-year rule by the
Jordanians. Then the Temple Mount
was taken and soldiers began rushing to the Western Wall, many in tears. ÒAfter a brief skirmish with Jordanian
riflemen, Gur radioed Narkiss the three words—seven in English—that
would resonate for decades afterward. ÔHar ba-Bayit be-YadenuÕ—ÔThe
Temple Mount is in our hands.ÕÓ[7]
The
evening of June 5 the Israel Air Force attacked and greatly disabled the Syrian
Air Force. For years leading up to
the Six-Day War Syria had often shelled Israel from the Golan Heights and sent
raids into Israel. Additionally
Syria was attempting to change the course of the Jordan River so that it would
not flow into the Sea of Galilee.
These were the main reasons Israel bused many of their troops from the
south and central parts of Israel to the north in order to launch an attack on
the morning of June 9 in order to take the Golan Heights as a buffer-zone for
the Jewish people. Beginning with
strategic air strikes and followed by an armored brigade the assault was initiated. Four Israeli brigades broke through the
Syrian defenses on the first day. On
the last day of the war, June 10, Israel overran the Syrian positions as they
retreated from the Golan Heights.
Just as fast as it began the war ended with Israel in control of the
Sinai, Gaza, the Old City, Judea, Samaria, and the Golan Heights.
Conclusion
Even
though the Six-Day War was a rousing success for Israel, the victory came at a
great cost of lives for the small nation.
Ò766 Israeli soldiers were killed during the ÔSix Day WarÕ. The number of Arab dead was never
announced.Ó[8] However it is estimated the Arab
casualty rates were Òapproximately 25 to 1 in IsraelÕs favor.Ó[9] Oren concluded: ÒBasic truths persisted:
for all its military conquests, Israel was still incapable of imposing the
peace it craved.Ó[10] Indeed, even today there is a lingering
pessimism throughout Israeli society that wonders if they will ever find peace
in the Promised Land.
The
Bible provides the answer to the question of whether Israel will ever find
peace. The answer is yes
indeed. However, peace will only
arrive in Israel after a great time of drama known as the tribulation that will
lead to the conversion to Jesus as their Messiah who will return and rescue His
Chosen People who will be on the verge of extinction but will finally accept
Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah.
Thus, the Six-Day War, like the founding of the modern state of Israel,
is a step in the process of preparation for the next step within GodÕs plan for
Israel that will unfold during the seven-year tribulation period. In the War of 1967 the Jewish people regained
control of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. During the tribulation Israel is
pictured as having rebuilt its Temple in the Old City on the Temple Mount. However, Israel is still largely in
unbelief and many problems persist for the current nation of Israel. Maranatha!
[1] Joel Rosenberg quoted in Chris Mitchell, ÒIsraelÕs 1967 Miracle,Ó CBN News, June 5, 2007 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2007/june/israels-1967-miracle/?mobile=false.
[2] Martin Gilbert, The Routledge Atlas of the Arab–Israeli Conflict, 7th edition (London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2002), p. 65.
[3] Tom Segev, 1967: Israel, The War, and The Year That Transformed The Middle East (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2007), p. 14.
[4] Segev, 1967, p. 14.
[5] Segev, 1967, p. 14.
[6] Segev, 1967, p. 222.
[7] Michael B. Oren, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East (New York: Oxford Press, 2002), p. 245. Oren, the former Israeli ambassador to the United States, has contributed this excellent book of the Six-Day War.
[8] Gilbert, Arab–Israeli Conflict, p. 68.
[9] Oren, Six Days of War, p. 305.
[10] Oren, Six Days of War, p. 327.