Israel Matzav

June 4, 1967

During the course of Shavuoth night, my three youngest sons (nearly 12, 9 and 7) were in a Torah class with a rabbi who recalled that "44 years ago, Hebron yeshiva emptied out on Shavuoth morning. Everyone went to the Kotel [Western Wall]." We live about an hour's walk from the Kotel, but this morning - as I have done every year except for two since we made aliya - I took two of my sons (the 12 and 9-year olds - the 7-year old will join us next year, God willing) to the Kotel for sunrise services. We studied Torah from 11:00 pm to 3:00 am, left around 3:15, and returned home just before 9:00 am.

This mundane activity, which thousands of Jerusalemites and visitors take for granted, could not have happened 45 years ago. Historian Michael Oren, who is Israel's ambassador to the United States and the author of a definitive book on the Six Day War (Six Days of War), recalls just how desperate Israel's situation was on June 4, 1967, just ten days before Shavuoth that year.

"We shall destroy Israel and its inhabitants," declared Palestine Liberation Organization leader Ahmad al-Shuqayri. "As for the survivors -- if there are any -- the boats are ready to deport them." [Where was the 'occupied territory' then? CiJ] A half-million Arab soldiers and more than 5,000 tanks converged on Israel from every direction, including the West Bank, then part of Jordan. Their plans called for obliterating Israel's army, conquering the country, and killing large numbers of civilians. Iraqi President Abdul Rahman Arif said the Arab goal was to wipe Israel off the map: "We shall, God willing, meet in Tel Aviv and Haifa."

This was the fate awaiting Israel on June 4, 1967. Many Israelis feverishly dug trenches and filled sandbags, while others secretly dug 10,000 graves for the presumed victims. Some 14,000 hospital beds were arranged and gas masks distributed to the civilian population. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) prepared to launch a pre-emptive strike to neutralize Egypt, the most powerful Arab state, but the threat of invasion by other Arab armies remained.

Israel's borders at the time were demarcated by the armistice lines established at the end of Israel's war of independence 18 years earlier [The same lines to which Barack Hussein Obama now wants Israel to retreat. CiJ]. These lines left Israel a mere 9 miles wide at its most populous area. Israelis faced mountains to the east and the sea to their backs and, in West Jerusalem, were virtually surrounded by hostile forces. In 1948, Arab troops nearly cut the country in half at its narrow waist and laid siege to Jerusalem, depriving 100,000 Jews of food and water.

The Arabs readied to strike -- but Israel did not wait. "We will suffer many losses, but we have no other choice," explained IDF Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin. The next morning, on June 5, Israeli jets and tanks launched a surprise attack against Egypt, destroying 204 of its planes in the first half-hour. By the end of the first morning of fighting, the Israeli Air Force had destroyed 286 of Egypt's 420 combat aircraft, 13 air bases, and 23 radar stations and anti-aircraft sites. It was the most successful single operation in aerial military history.

But, as feared, other Arab forces attacked. Enemy planes struck Israeli cities along the narrow waist, including Hadera, Netanya, Kfar Saba, and the northern suburbs of Tel Aviv; and thousands of artillery shells fired from the West Bank pummeled greater Tel Aviv and West Jerusalem. Ground forces, meanwhile, moved to encircle Jerusalem's Jewish neighborhoods as they did in 1948. [Which is exactly what could happen in a future war if God forbid we were to retreat to the 1949 armistice lines. CiJ].

In six days, Israel repelled these incursions and established secure boundaries. It drove the Egyptians from the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula, and the Syrians, who had also opened fire, from the Golan Heights. Most significantly, Israel replaced the indefensible armistice lines by reuniting Jerusalem and capturing the West Bank from Jordan.

The rest of the article is too politically correct for me, which is why I won't recommend that you read it. But I want to impress on all of you the perilous straits that Israel faced 44 years ago, and the miraculous victory that God gave us at that time. Perhaps if we better appreciate how desperate the situation was, we can be more grateful for what we have and not so impetuous as to give it all away for a piece of paper.

Labels: 1949 armistice lines, June 4 1967, Six Day War

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:42 PM