Six Day War: When Israel moved from survival to revival - opinion

Fifty-nine years ago, on June 5, 1967, the Six Day War began, a conflict that, though brief, profoundly reshaped Israel's existence for generations. This pivotal event is remembered by the Arab world as the "Day of the Setback" (Naksa), marking a significant Arab defeat.

Prior to the war, Israel faced an existential threat. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser expelled UN peacekeeping forces, amassed troops on the Sinai Peninsula, closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, and established military fronts with Syria and Jordan. Amidst widespread calls for Israel's destruction, the nation, only a few miles wide at its narrowest point, perceived these actions as a direct threat to its survival.

Despite diplomatic efforts to avert conflict, the escalating threats to freedom of navigation and national security led Israel to make a strategic decision. On June 5, it launched Operation Focus, a preemptive strike that destroyed the majority of the Egyptian Air Force within hours. Subsequent strikes targeted Syrian and Jordanian air forces, rapidly transforming the strategic balance and giving Israel a decisive advantage.

Within six days, Israel achieved a dramatic strategic reversal. The war's significance extended beyond the battlefield, granting Israel two vital assets: strategic depth and a renewed connection to its historical and national identity. The 1949 armistice lines had left Israel vulnerable, but control of the Golan Heights, Jordan Valley, Judea and Samaria, Gaza, and the Sinai Peninsula created essential defensive space, pushing threats farther from population centers. This military victory also represented a return to the heart of Jewish history for a people who had established their state in the aftermath of exile and the Holocaust.