1967 War

In April 1967 it was believed by Soviet intelligence Israel was planning to attack Syria the following month. Moscow warned Egypt of this and, with Soviet encouragement, Egypt mobilized and concentrated it's troops on the Sinai border with Israel.

Then, without consulting Moscow, Nasser (then President of Egypt) proclaimed a blockade of the Straits of Tiran, i.e. Israeli ships could no longer pass these straits. The Israelis played up the blockade as a mortal danger to their economy (which it wasn't) and replied by mobilising their forces and moving them to the frontiers. However, in response to a Soviet warning that Egypt must not be the first to open fire, she took no precautions against the possibility of an Israeli attack. Thus, on June 5, Israel struck the pre-emptive blow and demolished the entire Egyption air force on the ground, and the famous 6 day war began. Day by day the Israeli tanks moved westward into the Sinai peninsula, eastward into Jordan and finally into the Golan Heights in Syria and within 6 days Israel had destroyed the combined military might of these three arab nations.

Despite the fact that the UN Security Council Resolution (242) of 22 November 1967, called on Israel to withdraw from the newly occupied territories (Gaza Strip, West Bank and the Sinai) it refused, claiming they were needed for "strategic purposes". The state of Israel as we now know it includes these territories and Prime Minister Menahem Begin has stated categorically that they will never be relinquished. Today Israel actively pursues a policy of establishing new settlements there. Recent attempts to obtain a settlement of the Palestine question have concentrated on these territories and rest on Israel's giving up some or all of them, this land then being used to create a separate Palestinian state. If Israel did give up these territories that would be an important gain for the Palestinian people. But to look upon that as the ultimate solution to their problem is to overlook the fact that all of Israel is occupied territory which has been taken by force from the Palestinian people. It is not a question of Israel giving up some of her war gains. It is a question of an end to expansionism and of self-determination for all Palestinian people - Jewish, Muslim and Christian alike.