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Essay on Six-Day War: Israeli Operation Moked, June 1967
After a long period of provocation, hostile actions, and threats from its Arab neighboring countries, Israel was forced to act in self-defense. Faced with few choices, on June 4, 1967 the Cabinet authorized the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence to decide on appropriate steps to defend the State of Israel. On June 5, Israel launched a pre-emptive strike against Egypt and captured the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. Despite an Israeli appeal to Jordan to stay out of the conflict, Jordan attacked Israel and thereby lost control of the West Bank and the eastern sector of Jerusalem. Israel went on to capture the Golan Heights from Syria by the time the war ended on June 10.
The Six-Day War started with a far-reaching air attack, code named "Moked", to shatter the Arab air forces while their aircraft were still on the ground. A massive, simultaneous attack by Israeli first-line aircraft was launched on the morning of June 5 against all Egyptian air force bases in Sinai and Egypt, the main Arab air force. Approximately 300 Egyptian aircraft, including bombers, combat planes and helicopters, were destroyed in less than 2 hours, eliminating the main air threat against Israel. When it became clear that Jordan had entered the war, the Israel Air Force turned to the Jordanian airfields in Amman and Mafrak and destroyed a large part of the Jordanian Air Force. Later on the same day, the air forces of Syria and Iraq were also eliminated as a threat (Burdett, 1969).
The Six Day War broke out on June 5, 1967, following three weeks of tension which began on May 15, 1967 when it became known that Egypt had concentrated large-scale forces in the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt's force buildup in the Sinai was accompanied by other serious steps......
