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The 1967 Arab Israeli Six day War
Aug. 24th, 2007 09:28 amI saw an interesting 2 hour PBS documentary on the Six Day War.
It was triggered by faulty Soviet intelligence. The Soviet Union, then an ally of most of the Arab world, told Egyptian President Nasser that the Israelis were planning an attack. Nasser kicked the UN peacekeeping forces from the buffer zone and mobilized the Egyptian army. The rest of the Arab world was inflamed by the Egyptian rhetoric and the Syrian, Jordanian and Saudi Armies were put under the control of Egyptian generals as part of a joint Arab force to destroy Israel.
When the Israelis pushed towards Jerusalem, the Egyptian general commanding the Jordanian army didn't care to defend the city. He wanted to use these forces elsewhere. Some Jordanian soldiers "deserted" the main force, but not enough to oppose the Israelis and Jerusalem fell. King Hussein had a religious duty as the Hashemite king (a direct descendant of Mohammad) to protect the Holy city of Jerusalem, but he had given away control of his army.
On the last few days of the war, the Israelis took the Golan Heights from Syria, who were using it to shell Israel. The Soviets were deeply disturbed by the military success of Israel again the Arab forces, and had already repainted a number of Soviet MIG aircraft with Egyptian insignia. They were planning on a Soviet navy and air force counter attack on Israel but a cease fire was called before this could happen.
It was triggered by faulty Soviet intelligence. The Soviet Union, then an ally of most of the Arab world, told Egyptian President Nasser that the Israelis were planning an attack. Nasser kicked the UN peacekeeping forces from the buffer zone and mobilized the Egyptian army. The rest of the Arab world was inflamed by the Egyptian rhetoric and the Syrian, Jordanian and Saudi Armies were put under the control of Egyptian generals as part of a joint Arab force to destroy Israel.
When the Israelis pushed towards Jerusalem, the Egyptian general commanding the Jordanian army didn't care to defend the city. He wanted to use these forces elsewhere. Some Jordanian soldiers "deserted" the main force, but not enough to oppose the Israelis and Jerusalem fell. King Hussein had a religious duty as the Hashemite king (a direct descendant of Mohammad) to protect the Holy city of Jerusalem, but he had given away control of his army.
On the last few days of the war, the Israelis took the Golan Heights from Syria, who were using it to shell Israel. The Soviets were deeply disturbed by the military success of Israel again the Arab forces, and had already repainted a number of Soviet MIG aircraft with Egyptian insignia. They were planning on a Soviet navy and air force counter attack on Israel but a cease fire was called before this could happen.
