Ruth King

June 5th,2007 will be the 40th anniversary of Israel’s lightning war against the combined forces of Syria, Egypt, Jordan, the PLO and Iraq. On that day The New York Times reported “Israeli-Egyptian battle erupts; planes and tanks are in action; Cairo reports attacks from air.” There was scant mention of the provocations which forced Israel’s hand.

In May 1967 Syria had stepped up its shelling of Israel’s northern towns from the Golan Heights; on May 20 and 21 Egypt deployed several army divisions along the Israeli border and demanded the removal of UN peacekeeping troops in the Sinai, which had been placed there as one of the terms for Israel’s withdrawal in 1956; on May 22 the PLO announced plans to step up attacks within Israel, Cairo called up 10,000 additional reserves and declared a blockade of the Gulf of Aqaba and Iraq announced that it would be sending aid and personnel to battle Israel. Three days later Jordan pledged itself to the battle and offered to admit Saudi and Iraqi forces into its country to do battle with Israel.

Prime Minister Levi Eshkol repeatedly sought to reassure the Arabs. On May 15th Eshkol said: “Israel wants to make it clear to the government of Egypt that it has no aggressive intentions whatsoever against any Arab state at all.”

The response from the Arab states was a barrage of crude threats. On one day alone, May 17th:

“Every one of the hundred million Arabs has been living for the past nineteen years on one hope– to live to see the day Israel is liquidated…There is no life, no peace nor hope for the gangs of Zionism to remain in the occupied land.” (Cairo Radio’s Voice of the Arabs broadcast)

“….Jordanian artillery, coordinated with the forces of Egypt and Syria, is in a position to cut Israel in two at Qalqilya, where Israeli territory between the Jordan armistice line and the Mediterranean Sea is only 12 kilometres wide.” (Al Akhbar, Cairo's daily newspaper)

“Brethren and sons, this is the day of the battle to avenge our martyred brethren who fell in 1948. It is the day to wash away the stigma. We shall, Allah willing, meet in Tel Aviv and Haifa.” (Radio broadcast by Iraqi President Abdel Rahman Aref)

“The Syrian army is united. I believe that the time has come to begin a battle of annihilation.” (Syria’s Defence Minister Hafez, later to become president of Syria and father to Bashar Assad, Syria’s present dictator)

Until the end of May, U Thant, then UN Secretary General, engaged in shuttle diplomacy, concluding on May 26th that the situation in the Middle East was “disturbing.” How Kofiesque.

In six days of war Israel destroyed the well armed armies of its enemies, rolled on to the Jordan River, pushed Syria’s army from the Golan Heights, took control of Gaza and the Sinai, and most symbolic for international Jewry, made Jerusalem a united Jewish city.

Yoske Schwartz a veteran of Israel’s 1948 war and one of the paratroopers of the fierce battle for Jerusalem recently wrote: "I'll never forget it. Forty years have passed and I still haven't forgotten it. I remember suddenly tens of thousands of Jews—young, old, men and women, were all running to the Western Wall, crying and hugging us and calling us heroes. We didn't feel like heroes, but we cried and prayed with them. On the one hand, so many of my friends had been killed. But on the other hand, sitting in front of the Western Wall, I felt Jerusalem. I always say that I had once thought, 'Who are these people with streimels and payot? I'm not like them, I'm a new Israeli man.' But when I got to the Kotel I understood that I was just a Jew. It was an amazing feeling."

The war was not without severe losses for Israel. Eight hundred soldiers died in the fighting, 183 in the battle for Jerusalem. Out of 1,200 paratroopers who began the battle for Jerusalem, there were only 400 left fighting by the end, some of them badly wounded.

Unfortunately, in the immediate aftermath of victory, Israel’s parliament (including Menachem Begin) unanimously proposed ceding every inch of the conquered land for “peace and recognition of its right to exist” by its Arab enemies. The response of the leaders of the Arab League who met in Khartoum, Sudan to “negotiate” the terms of the final cease-fire was to reject peace, negotiations, and recognition. (Khartoum has moved on to other matters such as genocide of the non Arabs of Darfur.)

By making the offer to the Arabs, Israel launched the mantra of successive American and Israeli legislators, namely, give them land and they will recognize your right to exist (until they kill you).

Please note that murderous Arab anti-Israel rhetoric has been only faintly air-brushed for the Western media. The real difference today is that in great part due to Israel’s complacency, the world empathizes with Arab “grievances” and “frustrations” and Israel’s legitimate rights are off the radar screen.

Why did Israel not press its advantage after 1967? Thousands of miles of borders were changed in the years after World War II. Why did Israel persist in using the terms "West Bank," “administered” or “occupied” territories? The same people who have blithely accepted the term “Beijing” instead of Peking or Myanmar instead of Burma cannot bring themselves to say Judea and Samaria, the historic names for these lands. Why did Defense Minister Moshe Dayan order the Israeli flag to be removed from the shrine of the Patriarchs in Hebron and insist that all visitors entering the building remove their shoes "because it's a mosque"?

Why did Israel not promote its case against Jordan’s desecration of Jewish and Christian shrines? Why did they not emphasize that Judea and Samaria were the core of the historical Land of Israel, part of the Mandate to establish a Jewish national home in Palestine, and that Jordan’s illegal occupation was recognized only by Britain and Pakistan? How could Israel give its blessing to the identity theft by which the name “Palestinian” and all its relevant history belonged only to the Arabs?

Instead, much was made of silly UN Resolution 242. The victorious allies in World War II would have laughed at the terms of 242. But Israel made them sacrosanct.

In spite of serious warnings from the consecutive commanders of the “administered” territories since 1967 Israel took pride in building so-called Arab universities which became training centers for hatred of Jews and jihad.

Israel pointed proudly to the freedoms accorded to the Arabs of Judea and Samaria, among them freedom to promote sedition and calls for terror. Israel acquiesced in the perpetuation of the “refugee camps” whose self imposed filth and squalor concealed the buildup of terrorist cells throughout Judea and Samaria.

Even the Golan and Jerusalem, which Israel legally annexed, are now on the table. All this is the bitter fruit of Israel’s failure to implement Jewish rights in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and Golan after 1967.

Instead Israel foolishly offers to abrogate its hard won victory for “recognition of a right to exist.” Even dedicated appeaser Abba Eban noted how ludicrous that concept is in an article published in The New York Times on November 18th, 1981:

“Nobody does Israel any service by proclaiming its 'right to exist.' Israel's right to exist, like that of the United States, Saudi Arabia and 152 other states, is axiomatic and unreserved. Israel's legitimacy is not suspended in midair awaiting acknowledgement....There is certainly no other state, big or small, young or old, that would consider mere recognition of its 'right to exist' a favor, or a negotiable concession.”

However, Israel’s legitimacy does remain suspended in mid air, thanks to the retreat that started with the 1967 victory and the concept of “land for peace” which has been implemented by successive Israeli administrations.

Israel and its supporters will proudly hail the state's many achievements in science, economy and technology. But these are hollow accomplishments when her leaders propel the Jewish state toward a two-state dissolution.

It is a bitter anniversary, with no cause for celebration.