The Six-Day War: How Did All Begin? (Part 1)

 

ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר, כאיש אחד בלב אחד

 
 
The Arab States never accepted the existence of the State of Israel. From the birth of the new state in 1948, they rejected any possibility of coexistence and did everything possible to eliminate Israel and “throw the Jews into the sea” – the favorite euphemism of Israel’s neighbors to refer to a second holocaust. To me, the words of Jewish history professor Solomon D. Goitein, to a group of Hebrew University professors who advocated the establishment of a binational state in Palestine are one of the best explanations to understand why they tried to destroy us then and why we might have now a chance for peace. Goitein said in 1948: “I’m not ready to give my life for a pact of friendship with them [the Palestinians and Arab States] because I know that there is no chance of peace with them, as long as they believe that they can just annihilate us”.
 
THE PROVOCATION
In 1964 Israel created what is called in Hebrew hamobil haartzí, a company that managed the freshwater water that goes from the Jordan River to the Negeb desert. Even though the amount of water used by Israel was whatever had been agreed to in international treaties, Syria sabotaged the Israeli water company, diverting the flow of the Jordan River, starting what was called: the war of the water (milchemet hamayim), which lasted for a couple of years. In 1967, under Gamal Abdul Nasser’s presidency, Egypt joined Syria and began its provocations against Israel. On May 15, 1967, Egyptian troops entered the Sinai Peninsula, violating previous agreements: in 1957 Israel had conquered the Sinai, and at the end of the war it did —very naively— what no other country has done and what no other country is required to do: Israel agreed to withdraw from the area conquered in the war in order to reach a peace agreement with Egypt (it is worth clarifying that according to international law, the territories conquered in a war – and especially in a war started by the enemy – are legally considered part of the victor’s territory). The conditions for the Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai were that the area should remain demilitarized and that United Nations peacekeepers should be stationed on the peninsula to prevent an eventual invasion of Egyptian troops. The United States and other powerful European nations also guaranteed this agreement.
 
WHAT PEACE AGREEMENTS?
But in May 1967, Egyptian forces violated this agreement, crossing the Suez Canal and entering the Sinai. Moreover, Egypt blocked the Strait of Tiran, preventing the access of Israeli vessels through the Red Sea. This, more than a provocation, was an act of war. Nobody in the international arena did anything against Nasser: no sanctions, no embargoes. And as if that were not enough, the United Nations peacekeepers were “invited” by Egypt to leave, and incredibly, they left!. No nation in the world did anything meaningful to prevent it! As had already happened in 1948, the vulnerable nation of Israel was once again left alone. The passivity of the superpowers gave Nasser more motivation. Seeing no international reactions against Egypt, no country coming to the aid of Israel, and being completely sure of their victory due to the impressive numerical superiority, the Arab countries led by Egypt announced the imminent war and declared explicitly that they were bringing the end of Israel. Radio Cairo broadcast the following message: “President Nasser announces that our goal is to seize Israel and… liberate Palestine. Oh, Zionists! One hundred million soldiers will destroy you! Get ready because 100 million Arabs are going to dig your graves. “
 
TSAV SHMONE
Israel summoned up all its soldiers and reserve forces (גיוס כללי). The mood was very pessimistic. Everyone knew the difference in forces between the Arab countries and Israel. Israel had 2.5 million inhabitants at that time. The Arab countries— Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq — had over 100 million. The Arab armies had four times more tanks than Israel. And three times more aircraft, including modern Soviet-made Migs that were invincible then. Israel only had French planes that were already old, and everyone knew that this war was going to be decided in air battles…. the Municipalities in Israel prepared wooden coffins for funerals and people dug graves in the Kibbutzim and in the national parks, anticipating the worst.
 
WHAT MAKES US STRONGER?
On Iyar 22 of the Hebrew calendar, which corresponded to June 1, 1967, a special, unique, and highly positive event occurred. So positive that I would dare to affirm that this event made us deserve the miraculous victory in the Six-Day War: we Jews put aside our political differences and got together. Not only in the street, cafes, and Synagogues but also in the Keneset: Israel’s Parliament. For the first time since the creation of the State of Israel, all political parties, which to this day remain highly divided and unable to form a government after four elections, formed a “government of national unity” Memshelet Likud Leumi: Religious and non-religious Jews, Sephardim and Ashkenazim, left and right, all Israelis, as the Midrash says: “as one man, with one heart.” That government decided to attack the enemy preemptively instead of waiting for the imminent assault.
 
And HaShem was with us…
 

 



The Six Days of Miracles

תִּפֹּל עֲלֵיהֶם אֵימָתָה וָפַחַד בִּגְדֹל זְרוֹעֲךָ יִדְּמוּ כָּאָבֶן

We will soon celebrate Yom Yerushalayim. In 1967, Egypt, Syria and Jordan with the help of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Kuwait, Pakistan, the PLO and Sudan,  decided to attack and destroy the young State of Israel. The combined Arab army, supported and supplied primarily by the USSR, counted with 465,000 troops, 2,880 tanks and 900 aircraft. Compared to Israel’s 264,000 soldiers (of which 200,000 were reservists), 800 tanks, and 300 aircraft.  Led by Egypt’s president Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt mobilized its troops into the Sinai desert. Expelled the UN peace keeping forces, and initiated other actions which were considered an act of war, like closing the Suez canal. They were so confident in their military superiority that the Arab states celebrated victory and rejoiced in the destruction of the Jewish State even before they started the war.

On June 5th 1967 Israel launched a preemptive strike beginning what is known as the Six Days War. Against all odds, Israel not only survived the attacks of a much more numerous and stronger army–with no American help– but also conquered the Sinai Peninsula, Judea and Samaria and the Golan heights. And the most important aspect of the Israeli victory was that 1900 years after its destruction by the Romans, on the 28th of Iyar 1967, Israel liberated and regained control over Yerushalayim (Jerusalem). This was probably one of the happiest days in the history of the Jewish people, a culmination of our Independence that started in Yom haAtzmaut, 1948.

Many miracles took place in the Six Days war and very especially in the battles for Yerushalayim. We shouldn’t be surprised.  The Tora already promised the people of Israel that when we follow HaShem’s will, even if we are outnumbered, God will intervene in our behalf. He will be fighting with our troops, protecting us and delivering us from destruction (Debarim 20, 1-4):“When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for HaShem your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with You… HaShem your God is going with you, and will fight with you against your enemies — to deliver you…”. HaShem’s promises were fulfilled in the miracles that took place during the Six Days war.

In the Shirat haYam (Exodus 15)  the song that the people of Israel sang after defeating the Egyptians and crossing the sea, we have a clear indication of how exactly HaShem “goes to war with us” to defeat our enemies. We witnessed  His “Modus Operandi”, so to speak, when He intervenes in our behalf. The Tora says:   תִּפֹּל עֲלֵיהֶם אֵימָתָה וָפַחַד בִּגְדֹל זְרוֹעֲךָ יִדְּמוּ כָּאָבֶן:  “The nations will hear and tremble… the chiefs of Edom will be terrified,  the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away; By the power of your arm they will be petrified [by fear] as a stone.”  HaShem  intervenes by instilling fear in our enemies.

This is one of numberless testimonies of soldiers that fought on the Six Days War and saw this type of HaShem’s intervention:

Israel, an Israeli cab driver who was drafted to fight in the 6-Day War as part of the paratroop unit assigned with conquering the Straits of Tiran, told the following upon his return from the war:

“After landing in Sinai, I was sent with another soldier, an electrician, to patrol the area. When we had distanced ourselves two kilometers, an Egyptian military truck appeared before us filled with soldiers and mounted with machine guns on every side. We had only light weapons with a few bullets that couldn’t stop the truck for a second. We couldn’t turn back, so we stood there in despair, waited for the first shot, and for lack of a better idea, aimed our guns at them. But the shots didn’t come.  The truck came to a halt, and we decided to cautiously approach it. We found 18 armed soldiers inside sitting with guns in hand, with a petrified look on their faces. They looked at us with great fear as though begging for mercy. I shouted ‘Hands up!’ As we were marching them and I had returned to a state of calm, I asked the Egyptian sergeant next to me, ‘Tell me, why didn’t you shoot at us?’ He answered, ‘I don’t know. My arms froze – they became paralyzed. My whole body was paralyzed, and I don’t know why.’ …why didn’t they eliminate us? I don’t have an answer. How can one say that God didn’t help us.”

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
Albert Einstein


JERUSALEM: If I ever forget you, Yerushalayim! (586-516 BCE)

וְאַף-גַּם-זֹאת בִּהְיוֹתָם בְּאֶרֶץ אֹיְבֵיהֶם לֹא-מְאַסְתִּים וְלֹא-גְעַלְתִּים לְכַלֹּתָם – לְהָפֵר בְּרִיתִי אִתָּם כִּי אֲנִי ה’אֱלֹקיהֶם. .
Vayiqra, Leviticus, 26:44.

In 586 BCE, the Bet HaMiqdash and the city of Yerushalayim were destroyed, and the Jewish people were exiled to Babylon. Typically, judging by what happened to ALL the neighboring peoples of Israel who lived through the destruction of their kingdoms and exile, the end of Yerushalayim would have brought the end of Israel.

The historian Sebag Montefiore says that once defeated, peoples of antiquity abandoned their gods and adopted the gods of the victorious people. That was the most logical reaction to the most significant national tragedy. Why? Because the defeat of a people meant that their gods had been defeated by other gods who were more powerful than them. It was the right time to adopt and worship new gods and a new king. And, of course, once in exile, no people of antiquity would have conceived the ridiculous idea that one day they would return to their kingdom. They lost their lands, had no weapons, no gods, and no king. They must make a great effort to forget the past, adapt, and survive to the new reality.

But how come Jews did not forget their kingdom? After their defeat, where did we get the outrageous idea that they should continue to remember their land and their God?

The key is in the book of Vayiqra. There, at the end of chapter 26, the Tora speaks of the covenant ברית between God and the Jewish people. The Jewish people must fulfill their mission, following the divine laws and serving a single and invisible God. The Tora predicts that the Jewish people will not be left without enemies who want their land or who seek to destroy them. HaShem then offers the Jewish people a covenant: if the people follow His laws, they will have His blessing and protection. According to this agreement, one part of that protection is “conditional” and the other “unconditional”.

The unconditional clause is that HaShem guarantees that the Jewish people will never disappear and that regardless of what the people do or do not do, “the Pact” will never be canceled (or replaced, as Christians claim!)!

The conditional clause, on the other hand, is the permanence of the Jews in the land of Israel. If, despite the punishments and the warnings, the Jewish people abandon God, He will withdraw His protection; the enemy will prevail; the cities will be destroyed, and the people will be exiled. 26:14 “If you do not obey me and do not obey these commandments … 26:15 if you despise My laws and My precepts … in violation of My covenant … 26:31 your cities will become ruins and your sanctuaries will be desolate … 26:33 and I will scatter you among the nations [of the earth] …

The pagan gods considered themselves invincible and never contemplated their cities’ destruction or their followers’ exile. That is why the defeat of their people meant their gods were powerless. The Tora, however, announces explicitly that the permanence of the people of Israel in the land of Israel is conditional upon the observance of Israel’s law. And if the people would leave HaShem, they will be banished. The exile of the Jewish people, then, is NOT proof that HaShem lied to us when He promised us His protection or that the pact was repealed. ON THE CONTRARY! Exile was the best proof that the pact was real! The Babylonian exile was a punishment “contemplated in the covenant”. It was not HaShem who abandoned us; it was us who abandoned HaShem. Ironically, in the Babylonian exile, the Jewish people finally understood that what the Tora had warned 1000 years ago was true, and what was happening to them now had to happen, according to the covenant with HaShem!

Now, if the pact remained firm, we would also survive “as a people in exile” (another incredible anomaly!). 26:44 … and despite all this, when they [the Jewish people] are in the land of their enemies, I will not abandon or despise them, nor let them be destroyed, breaking My covenant … because I am HaShem their God …

In Babylon, our first exile, we learned the lesson. There, in exile, we did what we did not do when we lived in our land. In Babylon, we refused to forget our God, and we promised ourselves NOT to forget Yerushalayim, His Kingdom.
What the survivors of the destruction of Jerusalem felt and decided is recorded explicitly in Psalm 137 of Tehillim: “By the rivers of Babylon … we sat down to mourn and remember Zion (Yerushalayim) … and [although] we had hung our harps in the willows, our masters asked us to sing for them the famous songs of Zion … [and we refused], saying, how could we sing the songs of HaShem in a strange land? Yerushalayim! If I ever forgot about you, let my right hand paralyzed … let my tongue [dry], and get stuck to my palate, if I would not bring you to my memory in the moments of my greatest joy … “.

And this is how our return began.

 



YOM YERUSHALAYIM: Who conquered Jerusalem in 1967?

הפכת מספדי למחול לי

Today, 28th of Iyar, we celebrate Yom Yerushalayim, the day Jerusalem returned to our hands. This year, 2017, marks the 50th anniversary of this glorious day.

Yesterday we explained how the Tora describes the Divine intervention when the people of Israel fights against its enemies. Today we will see that sometimes HaShem’s intervention on behalf of His people, Israel, might be even more evident. We just need to open our eyes wide and remember what happened in the Six Days War, and particularly in the conquest of Jerusalem.

Let’s start from the end. While the battle for Yerushalayim took a very heavy toll, the precious lives of hundreds of our heroic soldiers (776 Israeli soldiers died in the Six Days War), Yerushalayim was literally a gift from HaShem.

Why? Because Israel NEVER intended to conquer Jerusalem in the 1967 war.

The main enemy and instigator of the war to destroy the young Jewish State was Gamal Abdel Nasser, the president of Egypt. All the forces of the Israeli army were to be focused on defending the desert of Sinai. If the Sinai peninsula fell, the Egyptian forces (that was their plan!) would reach Tel Aviv.

Defense Minister Moshe Dayan made this clear to Uzi Narkiss, the commander of the relatively small forces protecting Jewish Jerusalem: the priority is to defend Sinai.

Let us clarify that at that time Jerusalem was divided. The Western part belonged to the Jews while the Eastern part, including the Old City and the Western Wall, etc. belonged to Jordan (Jews, obviously, were barred from access to the Wall or even to the Old City).

Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol sent a message to King Hussein of Jordan (the father of the current King of Jordan): Israel had no intention of fighting Jordan (let alone, eastern Jerusalem!)  if Jordan does not intervene in the war. But everything indicated that Jordan would attack. They had 5,000 soldiers stationed in Jerusalem, with permanent reinforcements coming from Amman,  Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and an elite force of Iraqi soldiers.

The Jews of Jerusalem were ready for the worst. People donated blood, learned first aid and improvised shelters for children. It was estimated that there would be between 10,000 and 100,000 civilian casualties. National parks were prepared to be used as cemeteries. Wooden coffins were built for the first funerals …

And Jordan attacked. Moshe Dayan gave the explicit command to respond to the fire “proportionally,” and under no circumstances to escalate violence, in the hope that Hussein would eventually stop his attack. But Nasser, the Egyptian president, after having suffered irremediable casualties to his Air Force, tried to convince Hussein to attack Israel and he said: “Our forces are already on their way to Tel Aviv. You have to join the attack!”.  Hussein believed Nasser’s false story and began to attack Jewish Jerusalem.

Little by little, and miraculously, the Jewish forces won every battle they fought. They advanced, as the Jordanian soldiers fled in chaos, confusion and fear. The Jewish troops approached the Old City and for the first time realized that they could cross its walls. Levy Eshkol authorized the entry, but hurried to clarify: “We will advance [towards the old city] knowing that once the war is over, we must leave Jerusalem.”

Incredibly, most of Israel’s ministers were opposed to advancing towards the Old City. “The world,” they said, “particularly the Vatican, will not allow Jews to be the custodian of the Christian holy places.” Israel’s political leaders were afraid of a possible success. The Jewish troops, however, began to encircle the old city.  At 3 am on June 7, Ali Ata, the Jordanian commander responsible for the defense of Jerusalem, entered the office of Jordanian governor of Jerusalem, Anwar al-Khatib, and said: “The battle for Jerusalem is lost “All but two of his officers had deserted, and the Jordanian troops were demoralized and exhausted and could not be controlled without their officers. Ali took his soldiers out of the old city and fled to Amman.

And so Jerusalem, 1899 years after being destroyed by the Romans, returned to be the capital of the Jewish People.

Yerushalayim was prepared for mourning. To bury and mourn thousands of dead. But the anguish was transformed into joy, and the nightmare into a beautiful and unattainable dream that to everyone’s surprise came true. It was like daydreaming,  an echo of the words of King David (Tehillim 30). “[HaShem] You turned what was to be my funeral, into a celebration; You opened my shroud and made me wear clothes of joy. ”

The coffins that had been prepared for the funerals were dismantled. And that year, the Yehudim of Yerushalayim used that wood to build their Sukkot, the huts that represent the eternal protection that HaShem grants to His beloved people, Israel.

הודו לה’ כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו

See the complete story of the battle for Jerusalem in this book: “The Battle for Jerusalem: An Unintended Conquest” by Abraham Rabinovich



Yom Yerushalaim

Today is the 28 day of Iyar, 5771/ 43 days of Omer (6 weeks, 1 day)

In 1967 Egypt, Syria and Jordan with the help of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Pakistan and Sudan decided to go to war and destroy the State of Israel. Led by Egypt’s President Nasser, Egypt mobilized its troops into the Sinai desert, expelled the UN peace keeping forces, and initiated other actions which were considered acts of war. They were so confident on their military superiority that the Arab states celebrated victory and rejoiced in the destruction of the Jewish State, even before they started the war.

On June 5th 1967 Israel launched a preemptive strike and started what is known as the Six Days War. Read about the Six Days War HERE

Against all odds, Israel not only survived the attacks of a more numerous and stronger army–with no American help, by the way--but also conquered the Sinai Peninsula, Judea and Samaria and the Golan heights.

Probably the most important aspect of the Israeli victory was that more than 1900 years after its destruction by the Romans, on the 28th of Iyar 1967 Israel regained control over Yerushalaim.

That was probably the happiest day in the history of the Jewish people, a culmination of our Independence that started in Yom haAtzmaut, 1948.

Many miracles took place in the six days war and very especially in the battles for Yerushalaim. We shouldn’t be surprised: The Torah already promised Am Israel that if we follow haShem’s will, even if we were outnumbered, God will intervene in our behalf ( Vaikra 26, 7-8) You will pursue your enemies…Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand….

God Almighty encouraged us not to be afraid of a more powerful enemy, because He will be fighting with our troops, protecting us and delivering us from destruction (Debarim 20, 1-4): When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you… haShem your God is He who is going with you, to fight for you with your enemies -to save you

All of God’s promises were fulfilled in Yom Yerushalaim!

This is why we celebrate this day with Halel and prayers of gratitude to haShem Almighty.

May haShem Almighty find in us and in our fathers enough merit to deserve His constant Protection against those who relentlessly pursue our destruction.

May we see the Temple of Yerushalaim rebuilt in our days and its inhabitants living in peace.

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION to read and share with your friends

Enjoy this video and its music

Yom Yerushalaim Sameach!!!