Political Science

The  Middle  East  has  remained  not  only  the  most  controversial  but  also  the  most  volatile  region  in  international  politics  for  decades.  The  Third  Arab-Israeli  War  or  the  Six  Days  War  of  June  1967  was  one  of  a  series  of  conflicts  that  continues  to  determine  the  geopolitics  of  the  region  till  today.  An  analysis  of  the  Egypt-Israel  war  of  1967  requires  an  understanding  of  the  background  and  events  that  led  up  to  the  war.  One  of  the  key  factors  that  led  to  the  outbreak  of  war  was  the  Suez  crisis  of  1956  which  resulted  in  the  military  defeat  of  Egypt  bur  signified  its  political  victory.  According  to  the  agreements  after  the  1956  war,  Egypt  had  agreed  to  the  stationing  of  the  United  Nations  Emergency  Force  (UNEF)  in  the  Sinai  region  and  prevent  the  Fedayeen  from  entering  Israel.  However,  despite  the  fact  that  conflicts  were  subdued  for  a  while,  several  underlying  issues  had  remained  unresolved.  The  most  important  factor  of  Israeli  recognition  by  the  Arab  states  was  left  inconclusive.  Secondly,  the  1964  water  dispute  led  to  border  violence  which  resulted  directly  in   the  war  of  1967.  Thirdly,  Israel  was  engaged  in  disputes  with  most  of  its  neighbours  including  Jordan  and  Syria.  Finally,  the  removal  of  the  UNEF,  problems  in  the  Straits  of  Tiran  and  Nassers  concern  over  the  possibility  of  war  on  various  fronts  made  him  seek  alliance  with  Jordan  and  thus  led  to  the  formalization  of  pan-Arabism.
   
The  politics  of  personality  in  the  Six  Daya  War  makes  for  an  interesting  analysis.  Gamal  Abdel  Nasser  of  Egypt,  was  successful  in  forging  a  pan-Arab  identity  in  opposition  to  Israel  and  this  resulted  in  a  sort  of  lopsided  security  arrangement  in  the  region  in  which  an  Israeli  attack  on  any  of  the  neighbouring  Arab  states  would  be  responded  by  the  Arab  states   posing  a  united  front  against  Israel.  It  was  also  observed  by  the  Israeli  intelligence  that  Nasser  had  moved  considerable  forces  into  the  Sinai  desert.  Nasser  saw  that  the  Arab   states  all  had  potential  to  be  turned  into  Egyptian  allies.  The  new  Iraqi  government  of  1963  was  left-wing  and  socialist  in  outlook  and  to  them,  Arab  independence  and  unity  was  the  primary  objective.  The  Iraqi  President,  Aref,  announced  in  1967  that  Our  goal  is  clear  to  wipe  Israel  off  the  map.  (Lowe  1997231)
     
The  Baath  Party  which  was  in power  in  Iraq  in  1963  also  came  to  power  in  Syria  in  1966,  and  had  considerable  backing  for  the  Palestine  Liberation  Movement.  The  Palestine  Liberation  Organization  was  more  dangerous  a  guerrilla  force  than  the  Fedayeen.  In  addition  to  this,  the  Syrians  also  began  bombing  Jewish  settlements.
     
Thirdly,  Nasser  acquired  great  popularity  because  of  his  leadership  and  socialist  policies  which  held  a  lot  of  promise  for  economic  and  administrative  revival  and  stabilized   the  domestic  front.  This  enabled  Nasser  to  focus  on  his  military  ambitions  and  he  moved  his  troops  in  to  Sinai  and  enclosed  the  Gulf  of  Aqaba.

Fourthly,  the  Russians,  who  intended  to  increase  their  influence  in  the  region  as  a  counter  measure  to  the  American  pressure  incited  Egypt  and  Syria  to  maintain  the  anti-Israel  propaganda.
   
In  the  end,  all  the  Arab  neighbours  of  Israel  mobilized  their  troops  along  their  frontier  with  Israel.  Israel,  on  its  part  regarded  the  situation  critically  and  decided  on  a  pre-emptive  strike.  The  first  move  involved  a  series  of  air  strikes  which  almost  demolished  the  Egyptian  air  force.  Israeli  forces  moved  swiftly  and  achieved  a  decisive  win  over  the  combined  Arab  forces.  Israel  had  ample  warning  during  the  time  the  Arab  states  were  preparing  their  forces  and  therefore  it  was  a  major  reason  for  Israeli  success  in  the  war.
     
In  spite  of  the  efforts  of  Nasser,  his  ambitious  strategic,  domestic  and  foreign  policies  and  his  mobilization  of  the  Arab  countries  in a  united  anti-Israeli  camp,  the  Israeli  forces  defeated  them  due  to  prior  warning,  the  alert  Israeli  intelligence,  their  air  superiority  and  delays  and  drawbacks  in  Arab  communications.
     
The  politics  of  personality  in  the  Egypt-Israel  war  of  1967  is  established  starkly  through  the  personality  of  Nasser  and  the  Israeli  response.  The  Israelis  had  ignored  United  Nations  orders  of  returning  captured regions,  although  it  posed  the  difficulty  of  dealing  with  a  million  Arabs  in  these  territories.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Arab  states  bore  the  brunt  of  the  insult,  especially  Nasser,  who  had  been  a  disappointment  for  the  Russians.   Israeli  Prime  Minister,  Levi  Eshkol  claimed  to  have  occupied  the  important  town  of  El  Arish,  in  northern  Sinai  and  advanced  to  Abu  Gela.
     
The War  firstly,  transformed  the  opinion  of  the  world  towards  the  Jews.  Jewish  identification  with  Zionism  was  renewed  and  this  renewed  interest  in  Israel  fired  Soviet  opposition  further  against  it.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Unites  States  was  not  as  forthcoming  as  some  other  countries  in  extending  diplomatic  ties.  The  pan-Arab  ideology  collapsed  and  Nassers  policy  was discredited.  Lastly,  Egypt  and  Jordan  are  the  only  two  countries  that  have  made  peace  with  Israel  since  1967.