Robert Inlakesh: How Israel’s 1967 war paved the way for the turmoil in today’s Middle East
On the 5th of June, 1967, a conflict which lasted only 6 days would go on to re-shape the entire Middle East, overthrow secular Arab Nationalism and unite Tel Aviv with Washington. All of which would pave the way for Israel to be handed carte blanche by the worlds most powerful country and prompt a US policy that would go on to tear the entire region to pieces.
The six day war of 1967 is often misconstrued in popular Western discourse as having represented a victory for liberal democracy. Often presented as a battle between good and evil, the Jewish David and Arab Goliath, the real story of the third Arab-Israeli war was one of a shrewd, but brutal, political power play on the part of Israel. One that for better, or for worse, caused a re-structuring of Middle Eastern resistance to the West, as well as the US-led bloc’s policy in the region.
Israel based its argument, for what it deemed a necessary and “pre-emptive war”, on Cairo’s decision to amass its military forces in the Sinai Peninsula, and Egyptian President Gamal Abdul-Nasser’s announcement that he would close the Gulf of Aqaba. These events were enough to convince many that Tel Aviv genuinely feared a military offensive coordinated by President Nasser, with the participation of Syria. Damascus had also re-enforced its military presence near the border, with Soviet backing.