Role of Air Power in the Six Day War
To What Extent was the Role of Air Power Decisive in the Six Day War of 1967?
A. Plan of Investigation This investigation assesses the significance of the role that air power played in the Six Day War of 1967 (June 5th to June 10th) on both the Israeli and Arab sides. In order to evaluate the role of air power, the investigation will look at all aspects of the conflict and the strategies used by each side. It will analyze two different fronts where fighting occurred: the Sinai Peninsula and the West Bank. Various historical books, memoirs, primary, and secondary sources will mostly be used in order to evaluate the significance of air power. Two of the sources used in this essay, Six Days of War by Michael B. Oren and Foreign Relations of the United States: Arab-Israeli Crisis and War, 1967 compiled by Harriet Dashiell Schwar will then be evaluated for their origins, purposes, values, and limitations. This investigation will focus on the practices of the Six Day War and will only analyze this aspect of the war. The essay will not fixate on the causes or effects of the war; no analysis will be made on the two subjects. The essay also will not cover the fighting that took place in the Golan Heights between the Syrians and the Israelis. B. Summary of Evidence
Before the fighting of the Six Day War began, the situation for Israel looked perilous in the eyes of many residents. Many believed that the sheer size of the Arab armed forces would result in the immediate demise of the Jewish state.1 On the eve of the war, Egypt amassed approximately 100,000 troops in the Sinai organized in seven divisions near Israel’s southern border.2 They had nearly 950 tanks, 1,100 APCs, and more than 1,000 artillery pieces at their disposal.3 Combined with Syria and Jordan’s forces, the Arabs numbered some 250,000 soldiers, over 2,000 tanks, and roughly 700 front-line fighter and bomber aircraft to attack Israel on three sides.4 The Israeli’s totaled 275,000 men (many of them
A. Plan of Investigation This investigation assesses the significance of the role that air power played in the Six Day War of 1967 (June 5th to June 10th) on both the Israeli and Arab sides. In order to evaluate the role of air power, the investigation will look at all aspects of the conflict and the strategies used by each side. It will analyze two different fronts where fighting occurred: the Sinai Peninsula and the West Bank. Various historical books, memoirs, primary, and secondary sources will mostly be used in order to evaluate the significance of air power. Two of the sources used in this essay, Six Days of War by Michael B. Oren and Foreign Relations of the United States: Arab-Israeli Crisis and War, 1967 compiled by Harriet Dashiell Schwar will then be evaluated for their origins, purposes, values, and limitations. This investigation will focus on the practices of the Six Day War and will only analyze this aspect of the war. The essay will not fixate on the causes or effects of the war; no analysis will be made on the two subjects. The essay also will not cover the fighting that took place in the Golan Heights between the Syrians and the Israelis. B. Summary of Evidence
Before the fighting of the Six Day War began, the situation for Israel looked perilous in the eyes of many residents. Many believed that the sheer size of the Arab armed forces would result in the immediate demise of the Jewish state.1 On the eve of the war, Egypt amassed approximately 100,000 troops in the Sinai organized in seven divisions near Israel’s southern border.2 They had nearly 950 tanks, 1,100 APCs, and more than 1,000 artillery pieces at their disposal.3 Combined with Syria and Jordan’s forces, the Arabs numbered some 250,000 soldiers, over 2,000 tanks, and roughly 700 front-line fighter and bomber aircraft to attack Israel on three sides.4 The Israeli’s totaled 275,000 men (many of them
Bibliography: Bashan, Refa’el. The Victory: The Six-Day War of 1967. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1967. Print. Friedman, Thomas L. From Beirut to Jerusalem. United States: First Anchor Books, 1990. Print. Herzog, Chaim. The Arab-Israeli Wars: War and Peace in the Middle East from the War of Independence through Lebanon. New York: Random House, 1982. Print. Oren, Michael B. Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East. New York: Ballantine Books, 2003. Print. Parker, Richard B. The Six-Day War: A Retrospective. United States: University Press of Florida, 1996. Print. Pollack, Kenneth M. Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948–1991. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004. Print. Schwar, Harriet Dashiell. Foreign Relations of the United States: Arab-Israeli Crisis and War, 1967. Washington D.C: United States Government Printing Office, 2004. Print. Shipler, David K. Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land. New York: Penguin Group, 1987. Print. Word Count: 1,906 Words