To become a leader

Today, during our jeep tour of the Golan Heights, Daniel gave the first of our bar mitzvah teachings. It was particularly moving to have Daniel teaching us about the Six Day War while standing on the Golan Heights within feet of the ruins of a Syrian bunker from pre-67 days. The fact the our tour leader, Avrahami, had been an IDF officer tasked with clearing that same bunker on Day 5 of the war only added to the unique opportunity we had to learn from our newest Jewish leader-teacher.  Here's what he taught us:

As the topic for my Bar Mitzvah, I have chosen to talk about the Six Day War.  This conflict interests me because I am fascinated by Middle East politics, history, and geography, and the Six Day War involves all three.

The Six Day War marked a significant turning point in Israeli-Arab-Palestinian history.  On the one hand, it showed the power of the Israeli military and gave the Israelis territory and added security from a future Arab attack.  It also gave Israelis and Jews throughout the world a great sense of pride.  On the other hand, it caused Israel to have a significant Arab population within its borders, forcing Israel to choose whether it wanted to remain a democracy, Jewish state, or an occupying power.  We live with the results of this war today – a more secure Israel in terms of territory, but an Israel that occupies territory acquired by war and governs several million Palestinians who want an independent state.

When Israel was founded in 1948, all the Arab armies attacked it.  Israel was forced to defend its borders, and won.  In 1956, fighting broke out between Egypt and Israel in the Sinai over the rights of Israelis in the Straits of Tiran and the Suez Canal.  Once again Israel held off the Egyptians.  As a result of this war, a United Nations Emergency Force was placed in Sinai and Gaza to keep peace.  However, 11 years later, in May 1967, Egypt’s unpredictable dictator, Gamel Abdul Nasser, removed the United Nations forces and massed Egyptian troops in what had been a demilitarized Sinai.  Jordanian forces also began to gather in the West Bank, and Syrian forces were hunkered down here in the Golan Heights.  Other countries like Iraq also gathered airplanes for an attack.  In mid-May 1967, the Egyptians provoked an incident by shutting down the Straits of Tiran so that no ships could go to or from Eilat.  For several weeks, Israel worked with the United States to seek a diplomatic solution to this violation of international waters, such as having the United States and other countries send ships to Eilat.  But the international community could not agree on any action.  And President Johnson would not publicly assure Israel that the U.S. would defend it.

On the morning of June 5, 1967, fearing an Egyptian attack, and believing they could prevail quickly if they struck first, Israeli Defense Forces bombed the Egyptian air force in Sinai and eastern Egypt.  They decimated the Egyptian airfields and airplanes within an hour, and Israeli troops then invaded Sinai on the ground.  In the first few days of the war, the Israelis advanced in Sinai more quickly than anyone had expected.  The Egyptian commander, ‘Amer, and his generals, decided that, in order to retain their national pride, they would tell their citizens that Egypt was winning the war, destroying the Israeli air force, and advancing on Israeli cities.  They also claimed that Israel’s attack on their air fields resulted from British and American intervention and aid to Israel.  This accusation became known as the “Big Lie” during the course of the next few days.  Nasser’s generals also were too scared of Nasser to inform him of their increasing losses.  The success of the Israeli forces exceeded all expectations, and they pushed within three days to the Suez Canal, crushing the Egyptian military.

Meanwhile, in the West Bank border, the Israeli government was concerned about the international backlash if it attacked West Bank cities and East Jerusalem.   Jordan, however, had entered a treaty with Egypt, and with the Egyptian government’s false reports of early victories, King Hussein did not want to be accused by Arab countries of not supporting the war effort, so Jordan entered the fray.  With the Sinai campaign going better than expected, Israeli opened a full-blown front on the second day with Jordan.  Casualties were greater on this front for both sides, but Israeli airplanes again dominated the skies, bombing Jordanian tanks and positions.  Israel’s goal was to capture the rest of Jerusalem and the Biblical cities of Bethlehem and Hebron.  By the fourth day, after intense fighting, the Jordanians were defeated and Israel controlled all land up to the west bank of the Jordan River.

In the last two days, Israel opened up its campaign against Syria.  During the first four days of the war, Syrian gunners on the Golan Heights had bombarded Israeli farmers.  Moshe Dayan, the Israeli defense minister, opposed attacking the Syrians because he did not want a third front.  By Day 4, with the Sinai campaign and Jordanian front under control, and with Israeli farmers complaining about the bombardment, Dayan gave the order to attack, and within two days Israel captured the Golan Heights.

Starting on the third day of the war, when the Egyptians could no longer deny their losses, the U.N. started to talk about a cease-fire.  The Arab countries and Israel were aware that new borders would be drawn based on where the Israelis had advanced when a cease-fire was agreed to.  Beaten badly, the Egyptians were the first to agree to a cease-fire, and the Jordanians and Syrians followed, hoping not to lose more territory.

The war had both positive and negative effects on Israel and its Arab neighbors.  On the one hand, there were significant benefits to Israel from the territory captured in war.  Israel had captured the West Bank, Gaza, Sinai, and the Golan Heights.   It had more than doubled its size and it now had buffers separating it from the Arab countries, which gave it more security.  Israel understood that the gains in territory could be later traded for peace and recognition.  That is what occurred in 1979 when Israel traded Sinai back to Egypt.

On the other hand, millions of Arabs, Palestinians, and other non-Jewish people were now under Israel’s control.  As political analyst Thomas Friedman wrote in his book, From Beirut to Jerusalem, Israel had to decide between being a Jewish state, a democracy, and an occupying power.  With the new Arabs under its control, Israel could not be all three.  In the past 45 years, Israel has had to decide whether to give the new Arabs under its control basic rights, like the right to vote, or whether Israel should still be a democracy.  The dilemma created by Israel’s victory in the Six Day War continues today. 

The Six Day War also affected Zionism and Jews’ view of the State of Israel.  Israel’s rapid military domination united Jews across the world and made it clear that Israel was a country that would not disappear.  With a strong and permanent State of Israel, Judaism became not just a religion, but a community with its own country.  Our connection to Israel, knowing that it is a country we can always move to, is now as big a part of being Jewish as the customs and prayers.

The Six Day War also helps us understand the problems and possible dangers of what is occurring today around the world.  Nasser provoked the Six Day War – he closed the Straits of Tiran, blockaded Eilat, removed the U.N. Peacekeeping Force from Sinai and Gaza, massed troops in Sinai, and coordinated the war build-up with Jordan, Syria, and Iraq.  But Nasser did not want to fire the first shot.  He believed that if Israel fired first, the international community would condemn Israel and that the Soviet Union would enter the war on Egypt’s side.  Nasser seriously miscalculated.  We can learn lessons from this.  This same type of problem might be occurring with Iran today.  Iran is possibly trying to provoke Israel to preemptively strike it in order to turn world opinion against Israel.  The Six Day War shows how it is not always easy to figure out your enemy’s plans and what it is thinking.  The Six Day War also demonstrates that while it may be a good military choice to attack first if you believe a country is a serious threat to your existence, you will live with the results – both good and bad – for years to come.

Finally, a few thank yous:

First, I would like to thank Rabbi Roos for leading this trip.

Second, I would like to thank my parents for taking me to Israel and giving me such a great experience, and my sister Rachel for putting up with my practicing my Torah portion and prayers outside her room constantly.

Third, thanks to everyone here for sharing this trip with me and for listening to my speech no matter how tedious and boring it may sound!

Last, I would like to thank my tutor, Ronny Tabeka for teaching me my Torah and all the prayers.  I would never have been able to do this without him!

For more information on the Six Day War, Daniel recommends Michael Oren's book, Six Days of War.