Events Leading to the Six Day War
(1967)
The Six
Day War was the first major Arab attempt since 1948 to destroy Israel. In November 1966, an Egyptian-Syrian Defense
Agreement was signed, encouraging the Syrians to escalate tensions,
which reached a climax in the spring of 1967.
May 14: Egypt mobilizes its forces in and around the Suez Canal.May 16: Egypt moves it forces eastward across the Sinai
desert towards the Israeli border, demanding the withdrawal
of UN Emergency Force (UNEF) stationed along the frontier.May 19: The Egyptians expelled the UN Emergency Force (UNEF)
from the Gaza Strip and Sinai, and continued pouring its military forces into these
areas.May 22: Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping,
constituting a casus belli for Israel.
May 24-June 4: Answering the Egyptian call, the governments
of Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon moved their
forces toward the Israeli border. Israel mobilized its reserve
forces, and launched a diplomatic campaign to win international
support for ending the Egyptian blockade of Israeli shipping
through the Strait of Tiran.
Sources: Ministry
of Foreign Affairs � Koret
Communications Ltd. Reprinted with permission. |
