Descrição das fotos:
Chief of staff Yitzhak Rabin speaking to soldiers (Courtesy of the Rabin Archive)Artillery unit (Photo: David Rubinger
Prime Minister Levi Eshkol with MK Menachem Begin and Maj-Gen Gavish (Photo: Moshe Milner, LAM)IDF forces in Sinai (Photo: LAM) Jordanian soldiers (Photo: Zeev Spector, LAM ) Israeli ship in the Suez Cannal (Photo: LAM ) Days of waiting (Photo: Amnon Even Tov, LAM ) Haim Hertzog and Ben Gurion at the Western Wall (Photo: David Eldan, LAM ) IDF forces in Gaza (Photo: Moshe Milner, LAM) Major Generals Sharon, Bar Lev and Gavish (Photo: David Rubinger, LAM) A woman in Jerusalem (Photo: David Rubinger, LAM ) Yael Dayan daughter of Moshe Dayan (Photo: David Rubinger, LAM) Families visit soldiers (Photo: David Rubinger, LAM) Military attaché Israeli tanks in the Sinai Peninsula (Photo: David Rubinger, LAM) Female soldier (Photo: Asaf Kutin, LAM)
The Six Day War
The 1967 war was a turning point in Israel's history. The IDF's stunning military success turned Israel into the Middle East's superpower but the capture of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with their large Palestinian population, left Israel with an unresolved problem .
The Six Day War erupted in 1967 due to an escalation in Israeli-Arab tensions, the state of inter-Arab relations, and the intervention of world powers in Middle East affairs.
A number of factors fueled Israeli-Arab tensions, first and foremost the Arab League's decision to divert the sources of the Jordan River away from the Sea of Galilee and into Syrian and Lebanese territory, and Israel's activation of its national water carrier in 1964. This battle over water sources was the prime catalyst of the war.
The Arab League's decision to institute the PLO as the Palestinian's official body along with a series of Syrian-sponsored terror attacks in Israel also caused tensions in the region to soar.
Syria's aim in this was to strengthen its position in the Arab world and challenge Egypt's dominance, after its 1961 decision to quit the United Arab Republic – the joint state it had formed with Egypt three years earlier as a first step to establishing a pan-Arab nation.
The USSR was also monitoring developments in the Middle East, keen to fortify its position in the region.
According to various analysts, news of Israel's nuclear reactor in Dimona spurred panic in Egypt, further aggravating the situation.
On April 7, 1967, six Syrian MiG-21 fighter jets were shot down by the Israeli Air Force in what was initially a minor border confrontation. Syria turned to Egypt requesting urgent assistance. Meanwhile, on May 13, the USSR falsely informed Egypt that the IDF had deployed a large force to the Syrian-Israeli border. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser answered Syria's plea and Russia's provocation, and dispatched seven military divisions, including two armored divisions, to its border with Israel. Nearly 1,000 Egyptian tanks reached Sinai.
Israeli tanks in the Golan Heights
However, a United Nations Emergency Force was stationed along the Israeli-Egyptian border, and some rivals mocked Nasser for launching an impotent show of muscle behind the UN barricade.
Egypt asked the UN Emergency Force to evacuate its forces from the border and assemble its soldiers at three camps far from the border. Then-UN secretary-general U Thant refused, saying the forces would either remain in place or would withdraw completely. On May 17, Nasser told U Thant to evacuate all UN troops from Sinai and the Gaza Strip. The orders were immediately executed. Almost immediately Jordan began troop deployment on its border with Israel.
Until that point, Israel's assessment was that Egypt was not interested in war because a large part of its forces were involved in the civil war in Yemen. On May 20, however, Egypt began withdrawing its troops from Yemen, and Israel re-evaluated the situation. The IDF responded with a large-scale mobilization of its reserve forces, which paralyzed Israel's economy.
Two days later, on May 22, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, a belligerent move which Israel viewed as a sufficient catalyst for war. Nasser declared that "if the IDF Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin wanted war, then 'Ahalan wa-sahlan!'" -- he was welcome to have war.
On May 30, Jordan put its troops at Egypt's disposal. Iraq and other Arab nations followed suit. Israel's appeals to the western powers and the UN to intervene to prevent a war were to no avail. Fears in Israel over the impending hostilities peaked when Prime Minister Levi Eshkol stuttered as he read a speech he wrote for a live radio broadcast.
On June 2 a new coalition government was established in Israel, and Moshe Dayan was made Defense Minister. The next day France, Israel's chief weapons supplier, declared an embargo on weapons shipments to the Middle East. In Israel the feeling was of isolation and abandonment, evoking in many a recollection of the horrors of the Holocaust.
On June 4, the Israel government decided to launch a pre-emptive strike the very next day. Orders were handed down to the IDF. The Air Force was directed to launch Operation Focus (Moked), a comprehensive plan targeting Arab air-force bases to assume airspace control.
Egyptian POWs in El-Arish
War breaks out
On the morning of July 5, 1967, the Israeli Air Force pummeled Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian airfields, destroying over 350 planes within a few hours. Only 20 Israeli jets were downed in the fighting, mostly by anti-aircraft missiles. Israel also took special care to demolish runways so as to paralyze the surviving warplanes.
Egypt's airfields were targeted first, followed by those in Syria and Jordan. An Iraqi airfield on the Jordanian border was also bombed. Special importance was placed on demolishing the Egyptian airfields in the Nile Delta, where warplanes equipped with long-range missile systems were kept, which could have hit civilian targets in Israel.
The attacks on Egypt lasted roughly three hours, on Syria one hour and on Jordan even less. Now the IDF was free to cover the ground forces who were targeting traffic routes. More enemy airfields were targeted on the second day of the war. Altogether 451 enemy planes were destroyed during the war, compared to 46 Israeli planes.
The success of Operation Focus almost entirely prevented the targeting of civilian Israeli sites from the air. In fact, only one enemy warplane managed to infiltrate deep into Israeli territory: On the morning of July 5 an Iraqi Tu-16 bomber struck Netanya, thinking it was Tel Aviv. The plane was downed over the Jezreel Valley on its way back to its base. Other attempts by enemy bombers to attack Israel were thwarted before the planes even crossed into Israeli airspace. These successes stood in stark contrast to the heavy fears in Israel which reigned before the outbreak of the war, when there was an expectation of tens of thousands of casualties.
Many Israeli communities however, were attacked with artillery fire: the Jewish parts of Jerusalem, development towns and kibbutzim on both the Gaza perimeter and under the Golan Heights were attacked, suffering casualties and severe property damage. The IDF responded first with artillery fire, then by physically capturing the areas from where the attacks had been launched. On the northern border, the Syrian attacks continued for three straight days, and residents' pressure on the Israeli government played an important role in the decision to capture the Golan Heights, a move Dayan initially opposed.
Chief of Staff, Yitzhak Rabin, talking to soldiers
Egyptian front
In Sinai, the Egyptians amassed about 1,000 tanks and 100,000 soldiers – four infantry divisions in the front plus another infantry division and a tank regiment further from the border. Another armored division was held in reserve further inland.
The IDF's ground forces entered Sinai in three groups: Major-General Israel Tal's division advanced through Gaza and El-Arish; while Maj -Gen. Avraham Yoffe's central division and Maj-Gen Ariel Sharon's southern division entered the heavily defended Abu-Ageila-Kusseima region.
On the eve of the first day of fighting, after intense battles, Tal's forces reached El-Arish and Sharon's division prevailed in the most important encounter in north Sinai in the Battle of Abu-Ageila. Meanwhile Yoffe's division advanced on the Egyptian defenses and captured the Bir Lahfan junction. By the end of the first day, part of Tal's division headed north to the Gaza Strip, and by July 7 the IDF captured Gaza City.
The three divisions continued to apply heavy pressure on the Egyptian defenses and armored regiments, and by the fourth day Israeli forces reached the Suez Canal. Paratroopers landed in Sharm e-Sheik while naval forces took control of the Straits of Tiran. Egyptian troops attempting to flee found Israeli troops awaiting them at the Mitla pass, with all other access routes blocked off.
By June 8, the IDF held the entire Sinai Peninsula and most of the Gaza Strip, and the Egyptian soldiers remaining there were no longer a fighting force.
The Jordanian front
Jordan lost all its aerial might in the first day of fighting, but its ground forces were strong and well-trained. The Jordanian army included 60,000 soldiers and 300 tanks, and was backed by an Egyptian commando battalion, most of which was focused west of Jordan.
Despite an Israeli warning not to become involved in the war, Jordan attacked Tel Aviv on June 5 with long-range guns, and occupied the Government House in Jerusalem on the Hill of Evil Counsel. Artillery attacks were also launched on West Jerusalem and communities in the Sharon region and the Jezreel Valley. The IDF received authorization to take over the West Bank.
Defense minister, Moshe Dayan with Chief of Staff Rabin walking through
the Old City's Lion's Gate
The Jerusalem brigade forced the Jordanians out of the Government House, occupied its surroundings, and continued toward Bethlehem.
The armored Harel brigade breached Jordanian military lines north of the Jerusalem corridor and gained control of Radar Hill overlooking the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem road. At the same time, a Northern Command division attacked the West Bank in the direction of Jenin.
On June 6 the Kiryati brigade attacked the fortress at Latrun capturing it at daybreak, and met with the armored forces west of Ramallah. The paratroop brigade breached Jordan's lines north of Jerusalem, and after a tough battle at Ammunition Hill, reached Mt Scopus, and linked it with the city of Jerusalem.
Forces operating in the Sharon region conquered Qalqilya, while a Northern Command Division held a difficult battle with the Jordanians in the Dotan Valley near Jenin, before eventually taking over the city and nearby territories.
On June 7 the Jerusalem brigade and the paratroop brigade, commanded by Mordechai Gur, conquered the Old City of Jerusalem. At the end of a heavy battle, the troops burst through Lion's Gate, capturing the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.
The Jerusalem brigade then barged through the Old City's Dung Gate, clearing the southern parts of east Jerusalem, before continuing south and capturing Bethlehem, Hebron and Gush Etzion. The Northern Command division seized Nablus. The forces continued moving along different zones to the Jordan Valley, where they pushed what was left of the Jordanian forces east of the river and detonated the river's bridges. The IDF received a strict order not to cross the river.
The Syrian Front
In the first days of the war, the IDF avoided ground operations against Syria, so as not to divide its strength among three fronts. The Syrian air force was attacked and destroyed during Operation Focus and a Syrian attempt to capture the water plant at Tel Dan was thwarted. Nonetheless, heavy exchange of artillery fire proceeded on this front for the next three days.
As the situation in the Jordanian and Egyptian fronts began to clear up, the IDF was able to move on the Syrian front.
The Syrian army consisted of 75,000 men, supported by an adequate amount of artillery and armor, and had control over the strategic Golan Heights. Israeli forces on this front consisted of one division and a few brigades.
The IAF was ordered to attack Syrian positions with all its force, and the Syrian front line, above the Golan plateau, was severely hit.
By the end of June 9, Israeli forces had almost completely taken over the whole Syrian front line, and by the next day had pushed the Syrians some 12-18 miles back, and gained control over the lower area of the Hermon slope, Hamat Gader, which had been in Syrian possession since 1951 and the whole Sea of Galilee.
Summary
During the Six Day War, the military power of neighboring Arab countries was annihilated, hundreds of tanks were destroyed or looted, over 15,000 enemy soldiers were killed or wounded and some 6,000 were taken prisoner. The IDF lost 777 men and over 2,500 were wounded. Israel won valuable territory, the Syrian threat was removed from the northern communities, and Jerusalem was reunited. Within a few days Israel officially announced its annexation of east Jerusalem, and stated that the city was its eternal capital.
The feeling of euphoria possessing Israel was the exact opposite of the horror that reigned prior to the war. Within just six days, Israel went from being a small, isolated country that was surrounded by enemies and had no allies, to a strong regional power that was no longer under any military threat.
Then-defense minister Moshe Dayan declared that he was "waiting for a call from the Arabs", however, when Jordan's King Hussein did call, Dayan refused to speak to him. The Israeli government did not know what it would do with the newly occupied territories at first, with the exception of east Jerusalem, which was annexed immediately.
The government was unsure whether to turn these territories into part of the State of Israel, or to hold on to them as bargaining chips for future peace talks. Israel was also faced with the problem of how to deal with the large Palestinian population that had suddenly fallen under its control. Before the government had a chance to decide on these matters, movements from within the Israeli public began to emerge.
Many sectors of the public gave extreme historic, religious and nationalistic importance to the occupation of Jerusalem's Old City, including the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, and other sites in the West Bank that played an important role in the Jewish people's ancient history.
The Movement for the Whole Land of Israel was established on this basis, and it called for the annexation of all the territories, and settlement beyond the Green Line began – at first in secret, but gradually with the approval and even encouragement of the government.
The problem of these territories, and the Palestinians living in them, continues to torment Israel to this very day.
Chief of staff Yitzhak Rabin speaking to soldiers (Courtesy of the Rabin Archive)Artillery unit (Photo: David Rubinger
Prime Minister Levi Eshkol with MK Menachem Begin and Maj-Gen Gavish (Photo: Moshe Milner, LAM)IDF forces in Sinai (Photo: LAM) Jordanian soldiers (Photo: Zeev Spector, LAM ) Israeli ship in the Suez Cannal (Photo: LAM ) Days of waiting (Photo: Amnon Even Tov, LAM ) Haim Hertzog and Ben Gurion at the Western Wall (Photo: David Eldan, LAM ) IDF forces in Gaza (Photo: Moshe Milner, LAM) Major Generals Sharon, Bar Lev and Gavish (Photo: David Rubinger, LAM) A woman in Jerusalem (Photo: David Rubinger, LAM ) Yael Dayan daughter of Moshe Dayan (Photo: David Rubinger, LAM) Families visit soldiers (Photo: David Rubinger, LAM) Military attaché Israeli tanks in the Sinai Peninsula (Photo: David Rubinger, LAM) Female soldier (Photo: Asaf Kutin, LAM)
The Six Day War
The 1967 war was a turning point in Israel's history. The IDF's stunning military success turned Israel into the Middle East's superpower but the capture of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with their large Palestinian population, left Israel with an unresolved problem .
The Six Day War erupted in 1967 due to an escalation in Israeli-Arab tensions, the state of inter-Arab relations, and the intervention of world powers in Middle East affairs.
A number of factors fueled Israeli-Arab tensions, first and foremost the Arab League's decision to divert the sources of the Jordan River away from the Sea of Galilee and into Syrian and Lebanese territory, and Israel's activation of its national water carrier in 1964. This battle over water sources was the prime catalyst of the war.
The Arab League's decision to institute the PLO as the Palestinian's official body along with a series of Syrian-sponsored terror attacks in Israel also caused tensions in the region to soar.
Syria's aim in this was to strengthen its position in the Arab world and challenge Egypt's dominance, after its 1961 decision to quit the United Arab Republic – the joint state it had formed with Egypt three years earlier as a first step to establishing a pan-Arab nation.
The USSR was also monitoring developments in the Middle East, keen to fortify its position in the region.
According to various analysts, news of Israel's nuclear reactor in Dimona spurred panic in Egypt, further aggravating the situation.
On April 7, 1967, six Syrian MiG-21 fighter jets were shot down by the Israeli Air Force in what was initially a minor border confrontation. Syria turned to Egypt requesting urgent assistance. Meanwhile, on May 13, the USSR falsely informed Egypt that the IDF had deployed a large force to the Syrian-Israeli border. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser answered Syria's plea and Russia's provocation, and dispatched seven military divisions, including two armored divisions, to its border with Israel. Nearly 1,000 Egyptian tanks reached Sinai.
Israeli tanks in the Golan Heights
However, a United Nations Emergency Force was stationed along the Israeli-Egyptian border, and some rivals mocked Nasser for launching an impotent show of muscle behind the UN barricade.
Egypt asked the UN Emergency Force to evacuate its forces from the border and assemble its soldiers at three camps far from the border. Then-UN secretary-general U Thant refused, saying the forces would either remain in place or would withdraw completely. On May 17, Nasser told U Thant to evacuate all UN troops from Sinai and the Gaza Strip. The orders were immediately executed. Almost immediately Jordan began troop deployment on its border with Israel.
Until that point, Israel's assessment was that Egypt was not interested in war because a large part of its forces were involved in the civil war in Yemen. On May 20, however, Egypt began withdrawing its troops from Yemen, and Israel re-evaluated the situation. The IDF responded with a large-scale mobilization of its reserve forces, which paralyzed Israel's economy.
Two days later, on May 22, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, a belligerent move which Israel viewed as a sufficient catalyst for war. Nasser declared that "if the IDF Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin wanted war, then 'Ahalan wa-sahlan!'" -- he was welcome to have war.
On May 30, Jordan put its troops at Egypt's disposal. Iraq and other Arab nations followed suit. Israel's appeals to the western powers and the UN to intervene to prevent a war were to no avail. Fears in Israel over the impending hostilities peaked when Prime Minister Levi Eshkol stuttered as he read a speech he wrote for a live radio broadcast.
On June 2 a new coalition government was established in Israel, and Moshe Dayan was made Defense Minister. The next day France, Israel's chief weapons supplier, declared an embargo on weapons shipments to the Middle East. In Israel the feeling was of isolation and abandonment, evoking in many a recollection of the horrors of the Holocaust.
On June 4, the Israel government decided to launch a pre-emptive strike the very next day. Orders were handed down to the IDF. The Air Force was directed to launch Operation Focus (Moked), a comprehensive plan targeting Arab air-force bases to assume airspace control.
Egyptian POWs in El-Arish
War breaks out
On the morning of July 5, 1967, the Israeli Air Force pummeled Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian airfields, destroying over 350 planes within a few hours. Only 20 Israeli jets were downed in the fighting, mostly by anti-aircraft missiles. Israel also took special care to demolish runways so as to paralyze the surviving warplanes.
Egypt's airfields were targeted first, followed by those in Syria and Jordan. An Iraqi airfield on the Jordanian border was also bombed. Special importance was placed on demolishing the Egyptian airfields in the Nile Delta, where warplanes equipped with long-range missile systems were kept, which could have hit civilian targets in Israel.
The attacks on Egypt lasted roughly three hours, on Syria one hour and on Jordan even less. Now the IDF was free to cover the ground forces who were targeting traffic routes. More enemy airfields were targeted on the second day of the war. Altogether 451 enemy planes were destroyed during the war, compared to 46 Israeli planes.
The success of Operation Focus almost entirely prevented the targeting of civilian Israeli sites from the air. In fact, only one enemy warplane managed to infiltrate deep into Israeli territory: On the morning of July 5 an Iraqi Tu-16 bomber struck Netanya, thinking it was Tel Aviv. The plane was downed over the Jezreel Valley on its way back to its base. Other attempts by enemy bombers to attack Israel were thwarted before the planes even crossed into Israeli airspace. These successes stood in stark contrast to the heavy fears in Israel which reigned before the outbreak of the war, when there was an expectation of tens of thousands of casualties.
Many Israeli communities however, were attacked with artillery fire: the Jewish parts of Jerusalem, development towns and kibbutzim on both the Gaza perimeter and under the Golan Heights were attacked, suffering casualties and severe property damage. The IDF responded first with artillery fire, then by physically capturing the areas from where the attacks had been launched. On the northern border, the Syrian attacks continued for three straight days, and residents' pressure on the Israeli government played an important role in the decision to capture the Golan Heights, a move Dayan initially opposed.
Chief of Staff, Yitzhak Rabin, talking to soldiers
Egyptian front
In Sinai, the Egyptians amassed about 1,000 tanks and 100,000 soldiers – four infantry divisions in the front plus another infantry division and a tank regiment further from the border. Another armored division was held in reserve further inland.
The IDF's ground forces entered Sinai in three groups: Major-General Israel Tal's division advanced through Gaza and El-Arish; while Maj -Gen. Avraham Yoffe's central division and Maj-Gen Ariel Sharon's southern division entered the heavily defended Abu-Ageila-Kusseima region.
On the eve of the first day of fighting, after intense battles, Tal's forces reached El-Arish and Sharon's division prevailed in the most important encounter in north Sinai in the Battle of Abu-Ageila. Meanwhile Yoffe's division advanced on the Egyptian defenses and captured the Bir Lahfan junction. By the end of the first day, part of Tal's division headed north to the Gaza Strip, and by July 7 the IDF captured Gaza City.
The three divisions continued to apply heavy pressure on the Egyptian defenses and armored regiments, and by the fourth day Israeli forces reached the Suez Canal. Paratroopers landed in Sharm e-Sheik while naval forces took control of the Straits of Tiran. Egyptian troops attempting to flee found Israeli troops awaiting them at the Mitla pass, with all other access routes blocked off.
By June 8, the IDF held the entire Sinai Peninsula and most of the Gaza Strip, and the Egyptian soldiers remaining there were no longer a fighting force.
The Jordanian front
Jordan lost all its aerial might in the first day of fighting, but its ground forces were strong and well-trained. The Jordanian army included 60,000 soldiers and 300 tanks, and was backed by an Egyptian commando battalion, most of which was focused west of Jordan.
Despite an Israeli warning not to become involved in the war, Jordan attacked Tel Aviv on June 5 with long-range guns, and occupied the Government House in Jerusalem on the Hill of Evil Counsel. Artillery attacks were also launched on West Jerusalem and communities in the Sharon region and the Jezreel Valley. The IDF received authorization to take over the West Bank.
Defense minister, Moshe Dayan with Chief of Staff Rabin walking through
the Old City's Lion's Gate
The Jerusalem brigade forced the Jordanians out of the Government House, occupied its surroundings, and continued toward Bethlehem.
The armored Harel brigade breached Jordanian military lines north of the Jerusalem corridor and gained control of Radar Hill overlooking the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem road. At the same time, a Northern Command division attacked the West Bank in the direction of Jenin.
On June 6 the Kiryati brigade attacked the fortress at Latrun capturing it at daybreak, and met with the armored forces west of Ramallah. The paratroop brigade breached Jordan's lines north of Jerusalem, and after a tough battle at Ammunition Hill, reached Mt Scopus, and linked it with the city of Jerusalem.
Forces operating in the Sharon region conquered Qalqilya, while a Northern Command Division held a difficult battle with the Jordanians in the Dotan Valley near Jenin, before eventually taking over the city and nearby territories.
On June 7 the Jerusalem brigade and the paratroop brigade, commanded by Mordechai Gur, conquered the Old City of Jerusalem. At the end of a heavy battle, the troops burst through Lion's Gate, capturing the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.
The Jerusalem brigade then barged through the Old City's Dung Gate, clearing the southern parts of east Jerusalem, before continuing south and capturing Bethlehem, Hebron and Gush Etzion. The Northern Command division seized Nablus. The forces continued moving along different zones to the Jordan Valley, where they pushed what was left of the Jordanian forces east of the river and detonated the river's bridges. The IDF received a strict order not to cross the river.
The Syrian Front
In the first days of the war, the IDF avoided ground operations against Syria, so as not to divide its strength among three fronts. The Syrian air force was attacked and destroyed during Operation Focus and a Syrian attempt to capture the water plant at Tel Dan was thwarted. Nonetheless, heavy exchange of artillery fire proceeded on this front for the next three days.
As the situation in the Jordanian and Egyptian fronts began to clear up, the IDF was able to move on the Syrian front.
The Syrian army consisted of 75,000 men, supported by an adequate amount of artillery and armor, and had control over the strategic Golan Heights. Israeli forces on this front consisted of one division and a few brigades.
The IAF was ordered to attack Syrian positions with all its force, and the Syrian front line, above the Golan plateau, was severely hit.
By the end of June 9, Israeli forces had almost completely taken over the whole Syrian front line, and by the next day had pushed the Syrians some 12-18 miles back, and gained control over the lower area of the Hermon slope, Hamat Gader, which had been in Syrian possession since 1951 and the whole Sea of Galilee.
Summary
During the Six Day War, the military power of neighboring Arab countries was annihilated, hundreds of tanks were destroyed or looted, over 15,000 enemy soldiers were killed or wounded and some 6,000 were taken prisoner. The IDF lost 777 men and over 2,500 were wounded. Israel won valuable territory, the Syrian threat was removed from the northern communities, and Jerusalem was reunited. Within a few days Israel officially announced its annexation of east Jerusalem, and stated that the city was its eternal capital.
The feeling of euphoria possessing Israel was the exact opposite of the horror that reigned prior to the war. Within just six days, Israel went from being a small, isolated country that was surrounded by enemies and had no allies, to a strong regional power that was no longer under any military threat.
Then-defense minister Moshe Dayan declared that he was "waiting for a call from the Arabs", however, when Jordan's King Hussein did call, Dayan refused to speak to him. The Israeli government did not know what it would do with the newly occupied territories at first, with the exception of east Jerusalem, which was annexed immediately.
The government was unsure whether to turn these territories into part of the State of Israel, or to hold on to them as bargaining chips for future peace talks. Israel was also faced with the problem of how to deal with the large Palestinian population that had suddenly fallen under its control. Before the government had a chance to decide on these matters, movements from within the Israeli public began to emerge.
Many sectors of the public gave extreme historic, religious and nationalistic importance to the occupation of Jerusalem's Old City, including the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, and other sites in the West Bank that played an important role in the Jewish people's ancient history.
The Movement for the Whole Land of Israel was established on this basis, and it called for the annexation of all the territories, and settlement beyond the Green Line began – at first in secret, but gradually with the approval and even encouragement of the government.
The problem of these territories, and the Palestinians living in them, continues to torment Israel to this very day.
