The Arab-Israeli Six Day War
The Arab-Israeli Six Day War The Arab-Israeli Six Day War began on the 5th of June 1967, with Israel in the position of being surrounded by extremely hostile forces on 3 sides, outnumbered in troops and weapons, limited in resources, and a significant possibility of annihilation as a nation. Their selected defensive option was an extremely well planned and exactingly executed pre-emptive strike on the air and ground forces of Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Egypt. The primary objective was to gain early air superiority, eliminate the air threat against Israeli citizens, and to provide air support to the Israeli ground forces. The accomplishment of the mission by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) was an unprecedented example of an air campaign that literally destroyed critical targets of the hostile air forces. This paper will review the prewar environment in the Middle East, describe the air campaign, and examine the selection process for the war strategy.
After the 1956 Sinai campaign, the United States and Russia developed alliances in the region. Both major powers had vested interests in expanding their influence in the area. The United States was concerned that it would lose access to the oil reserves in the region under western control, and aligned with Israel. Russia chose Egypt, feeling it was more in line with its philosophy against western democracy. (Safran, Nadav, Israel, The Embattled Ally, Cambridge MA and London England, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1978, pp 359)
Gamal Abdul Nasser, the autocratic President of Egypt, had never lost his hope of someday being the saviorof the Arab world. The Arab countries defeat in 1948 remained an open disgrace that had to be avenged. The predominantly Moslem Arab states simply could not conceive of the idea that the Jews, destined to humiliation in their Koran, could actually possess a sovereign state in the midst of the so-called World of Islam. (Varner, William C., The
After the 1956 Sinai campaign, the United States and Russia developed alliances in the region. Both major powers had vested interests in expanding their influence in the area. The United States was concerned that it would lose access to the oil reserves in the region under western control, and aligned with Israel. Russia chose Egypt, feeling it was more in line with its philosophy against western democracy. (Safran, Nadav, Israel, The Embattled Ally, Cambridge MA and London England, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1978, pp 359)
Gamal Abdul Nasser, the autocratic President of Egypt, had never lost his hope of someday being the saviorof the Arab world. The Arab countries defeat in 1948 remained an open disgrace that had to be avenged. The predominantly Moslem Arab states simply could not conceive of the idea that the Jews, destined to humiliation in their Koran, could actually possess a sovereign state in the midst of the so-called World of Islam. (Varner, William C., The
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