The truth became known to Nasser at 4:00 P.M. when, for the first time that day, he entered Supreme Headquarters and encountered bedlam. ‘Amer, either drunk or drugged or both, had gone from a state of extreme excitement to one of profound depression. Screaming into the phone, he told Murtagi first to move his forces at al-‘Arish to Umm Qatef, and then changed his mind and ordered a retreat to Jabal Libni and the second line of defense. He spoke with Sidqi Mahmud and declared that U.S., and not Israeli, planes had performed the attack against Egypt, and that one of his pilots—Husni Mubarak—had seen the American jets. ‘Amer refused to take other calls, whether from the Soviet ambassador or from the Foreign Ministry, all of them anxious for information. Nor could they get through to Shams Badran. The defense minister had a bed moved into his office, then sequestered himself inside. “To think that’s our highest security official,” scoffed ‘Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi who, along with Kamel Hassan and Hassan Ibrahim—all former Free Officers—had volunteered their services at headquarters. “That’s our equivalent to Dayan.”
Nasser tried to talk with his field marshal but found him inconsolable and practically incoherent. The exact substance of their conversation remains unknown, but its outcome was indisputable. Orders went out to Gen. Salah Muhsin, commander of the 14th Armored Brigade at al-‘Arish, to counterattack at dawn, even without air cover. A decision was also made to inform Algeria of the air force’s destruction and to request that it loan Egypt a large number of its MiG’s. Lastly and most fatefully, Nasser and ‘Amer agreed to maintain the fiction of direct Anglo-American involvement in the war, both to minimize Egypt’s dishonor and to prod the Soviets to intervene. Ambassador Ghaleb in Moscow was instructed to request an immediate audience with Kosygin to inform him of the collusion. Arab oil producers, beginning with Iraq and Kuwait, answered Nasser’s call to suspend all shipments to the U.S. and Great Britain. At 6:05 P.M., listeners to Cairo’s Voice of the Arabs learned that “the United States is the enemy. The United States is the hostile force behind Israel. The United States, oh Arabs, is the enemy of all peoples, the killer of life, the shedder of blood, that is preventing you from liquidating Israel.”51
Rumors, traditionally a vehicle for disseminating information in the Middle East, had begun to spread. Sixteen hours after the first Israeli jet dropped its bombs on an Egyptian runway, the results of that operation were being whispered in the streets of Lebanon and Syria, in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Jordanian Military Intelligence Chief Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Ayyub summoned his staff at 7:00 P.M. and told them that, “I have just received information that 90 percent of the Egyptian air force has been destroyed on the ground.”
One of the few populations in the region to remain totally ignorant of the course of the battle was, strangely enough, Israel’s. Air raid sirens had sounded throughout the day, but no signal of “all clear” had followed. Egyptian tanks, for all Israelis knew, were rumbling into the Negev, while other Arab armies prepared to invade as well. Speaking on national radio, Eshkol described the “cruel and bloody campaign” his fellow citizens faced, warning them that “the distinction between front and rear may become blunted…all of Israel is a front line.” In spite of the grave insecurity these pronouncements instilled, Dayan insisted on maintaining absolute press silence about the IDF’s achievements. His purpose was to delay as long as possible international pressure for a cease-fire and the danger of Soviet meddling.52
This did not prevent the Israelis from updating the Americans, however. Meir Amit briefed McPherson and Barbour, stressing the existential threat Israel had faced and its intention to “press all the buttons” now that the shooting had started. The battle, he declared, was not only for Israel’s security but also for the survival of all pro-Western forces in the Middle East. Subsequently, a general depiction of the IDF’s successes in Sinai, Jerusalem, and the West Bank was forwarded from Tel Aviv to Washington, along with a report on the 400 Arab aircraft destroyed and Israel’s 19 losses. The updates were reviewed by Walt Rostow, who then passed them on to the president. “Herewith the account, with a map,” Rostow’s memo began, “of the first day’s turkey shoot.”53
THE WAR: DAY TWO, JUNE 6
Israeli advances and Arab retreats.
America on war and peace.
ldquo;Big Lies” and cease-fires.
Hough fifty-three years old and paunchy, the director of Israel’s Nature Protection Society, Avraham Yoffe, was a seasoned fighter in Sinai. In 1956, he had led an infantry column down the peninsula’s eastern coast to capture Sharm al-Sheikh. Later, as head of the Southern Command, he developed contingency plans for moving tanks over desert wastes that were widely believed insurmountable. Summoned a few weeks before the war by Gen. Gavish, Yoffe had arrived at camp in civilian clothes, thinking the was making a courtesy call. He returned in a brigadier general’s uniform and took charge of the 31st Ugdah with its two reserve brigades, each with 100 tanks. His assignment was to penetrate Sinai south of Tal’s forces and north of Sharon’s, dividing the two fronts and preventing enemy reinforcements from reaching either. Then, dashing eastward, he would attack Egypt’s second line of defense while its first was still busy fighting.
Yoffe’s initial objective, taking the vital road junctions of Abu ‘Ageila, Bir Lahfan, and al-‘Arish, had already been accomplished before midnight. “We received information that two Egyptian armored brigades were approaching,” Yissachar Shadmi, commanding twenty-four Centurions, later related. “They had turned off all their lights, and my forward observer reported, ‘I can’t see them!’ I told him, ‘shoot blindly,’ and our first barrage blew up seven vehicles. The Egyptians then spread out in the dunes and a bitter battle ensued, lasting from 11 P.M. to 10 A.M. the next morning.” Israeli planes completed the work begun by Shadmi, and by midday, the desert was strewn with burning wrecks. The Egyptians fled westward, toward Jabal Libni, which the Israelis regrouped to attack.
The thrust to Egypt’s center enabled Tal and Sharon to complete the unfinished business of the previous day—conquering the Jiradi Defile, Khan Yunis, and the bastions at Umm Qatef. Each of these battles was savage. Having pressed a frontal attack through Abu ‘Ageila, Sharon’s Centurions launched their main thrust against Umm Qatef, the main Egyptian redoubt, only to find the approaches thickly mined and cratered. When IDF engineers finally cleared a path, at 4:00 A.M., Israeli and Egyptian tanks engaged in intense combat, at ranges as close as ten yards. Forty Egyptian and nineteen Israeli tanks were left side by side, smoldering. Kuti Adam’s infantry, meanwhile, completed its clearance of the triple-tier trenches. Israeli casualties were 14 dead and 41 wounded, as opposed to the 300 Egyptians killed and 100 taken prisoner.
Sharon’s men passed the morning cleaning up around Umm Qatef and preparing to seize al-Qusayma in the southeast. Meanwhile, to the north, Col. Gonen’s tanks managed to smash through the Jiradi Pass—again—to link up with forward elements stranded on its western side. These, however, had not waited for relief, but had advanced to the outskirts of al-‘Arish. Gonen rushed to reunite with them and, after receiving supplies via airdrop, proceeded to al-‘Arish airport, which he captured at 7:50. Yet the battle was far from finished. “We entered the city at 8:00 A.M., intending to cross it and reach the coast road. Al-‘Arish was totally quiet, desolate,” recounted company commander Yossi Peled. “Suddenly the city turned into a madhouse. Shots came at us from every alley, every corner, every window and house.”
While detailing several units to clear out al-‘Arish, Gonen split his force three ways. A column of tanks, engineers, and artillery under the command of Col. Yisrael Granit continued down the Mediterranean coast toward the Canal, while a second force led by Gonen himself turned south to Bir Lahfan and Jabal Libni. Col. Eytan and the paratroopers of the 35th brigade were detailed for the conquest of Gaza. Much as Dayan had feared, the fighting in the area, from Khan Yunis to ‘Ali Muntar ridge, was brutal, accounting for nearly half of all Israel casualties on the southern front. But Dayan’s pre
diction that Gaza, once severed from Sinai, would quickly fall proved correct. By mid-morning the Israelis had already captured the Egyptian headquarters in the city, and had begun mopping-up operations.1
For the Egyptians on the front lines, the Israeli offensive was devastating. The 2nd Division had been badly mauled and isolated, while the 7th and 20th Divisions had essentially ceased to exist. Thousands of vehicles had been destroyed—their flaming hulls lined the roads, illuminating them at night—and hundreds immobilized by mechanical failures as Soviet-made engines proved unsuitable to desert conditions. At least, 1,500 soldiers had been killed. Reconnaissance Officer ‘Adel Mahjub, having fled from Umm Qatef, reached Bir Hasana before dawn, only to find it “burning and totally destroyed. Those soldiers still alive were left without food. There was no petrol for the vehicles and no ammunition for the weapons. It was like a journey to hell.” At Jabal Libni, Reconnaissance Officer Hasan Bahgat watched as Egyptian artillery opened fire on thousands of soldiers advancing toward him from the east. “An hour later, one of those soldiers reached us and we found out that he was Egyptian. Our guns had destroyed Egyptian soldiers retreating from Abu ‘Ageila.”
Harassed by enemy artillery, the Egyptians were hounded throughout the day by continuing air strikes. ‘Azzam Shirahi, a security officer at the Bir Gafgafa airfield, recalled how. “on the second day, Field Marshal ‘Amer spoke with the base commander and asked him to repair the runway quickly so that new planes could be sent. We all went down to try and repair the runway but the bombings continued. The anti-aircraft guns fired at the Israeli planes without respite, fired until their barrels melted, but with no effect. Many of the pilots were killed along with many aerial defense soldiers and officers. After that, no new planes arrived and no one opposed the Israelis.” The few Egyptian jets that did manage to get airborne, such as the two Sukhoi’s that strafed Gonen’s supply trucks that morning, were swiftly set upon by Israeli squadrons.2
Yet, for all this destruction, the Egyptian army in Sinai was far from vanquished. Over half of Nasser’s forces were still intact, and important elements—the 3rd and 6th Divisions, and the Shazli Force—had yet to fire a shot. Hundreds of pilots were available to fly once new planes were secured. And forty-eight Algerian MiG’s were already en route to Egypt, along with volunteer forces from Morocco, Tunisia, and Sudan. Expressions of support also poured in from Egypt’s sympathizers around the world. “We are highly indignant at the action of Israeli reactionary agents of the United States and British imperialists,” wrote Vietnamese Communist leader Ho Chi Minh in a personal wire to Nasser. “They are doomed to ignominious defeat.” An official Soviet statement proclaimed “resolute support” and “complete confidence” in the Arabs’ “just struggle against imperialism and Zionism.” The Egyptian people, listening to Cairo Radio, were informed that their army had “wiped out” the enemy attacks on Kuntilla and Khan Yunis, and was penetrating enemy territory.3
These circumstances contrasted sharply with Israel’s. Unlike the majority of Egyptian soldiers, the bulk of the Israeli invasion force and places had been in almost constant combat for over twenty-four hours; they were tired and low on ammunition and fuel. Politically, both Britain and the United States had declared their neutrality in the conflict, and France embargoed further arms shipments to Israel. Though morale improved after Rabin, in a 1:00 A.M. radio broadcast, finally informed the Israeli public of the IDF’s successes in the air and on the ground, that admission increased the chances of an internationally imposed cease-fire. Preparing for that contingency, Rabin acknowledged that Israel would have no choice but to honor the UN’s decision, albeit mostly in the breech until minimal objectives could to be achieved, especially in Sharm al-Sheikh.
“We’ll find the war coming to an end before we get out hands on its cause!” Dayan exclaimed to his generals. His orders to Rabin, issued at 7:45 A.M., were precise: “Complete the conquest of Gaza. Clear the al-‘Arish axis. Advance west but remain four miles at least from the Canal. Prepare to attack southward toward al-Qusayma.” He considered sending Mendler’s column in a race from Kuntilla down the Red Sea coast, but in the end settled on a combined airborne and naval assault. This would be launched no later than the following night, June 7. As for the 6th, the southern front would continue to occupy Israel’s main attention, the entire day dedicated to “the thorough treatment of Egyptian armor.”4
Ironically, the Egyptians did not share the Israelis’ assessment of the situation—ironically, because both Nasser and ‘Amer saw it as far more desperate than it really was. Rather than calling for an immediate halt to the fighting and focusing international pressure on Israel, Cairo continued to claim victories for its forces advancing through the Negev. Rather than rallying their still-extensive forces, digging in during the day and counterattacking at night when the IAF’s edge was blunted, Egypt’s leaders ordered a wholesale and wildly disorganized retreat.
The question of who, exactly, issued that order would divide Egyptians for many years to come. Apologists for Nasser, among them Hassanein Heikal and Anwar Sadat, insist that the initiative was solely ‘Amer’s, that the president learned of it only belatedly and then tried to rescind it. ‘Amer’s defenders admit that he gave the instructions, but assert that Nasser was fully informed of them and concurred. Both sides agree, however, in tracing the order to 5:50 on the morning of June 6, when Gen. Fawzi received a copy of a wireless message from ‘Amer directing the garrison at Sharm al-Sheikh to prepare to withdraw westward. Shortly before noon, the field marshal began calling for a fallback to the second line of defense, but at 5:00 P.M., he summoned Chief of Staff Fawzi and gave him twenty minutes to draw up plans for a general retreat. Fawzi was convinced that ‘Amer had acted on his own, but ‘Amer and Badran later testified that Nasser personally approved the order.5
Fawzi, in any event, was crushed. In spite of the deep psychological blow dealt the army, he believed that the Conqueror plan was still operational. Israeli forces, bloodied by the first line of Egypt’s defense, could still be drawn into the second line at Jabal Libni and Bir al-Thamada and crushed. Fawzi was not alone; virtually the whole general staff agreed. Earlier that morning, when ‘Amer had phoned Murtagi, inquiring in a quavering voice, “how fare our forces?” the Sinai commander had replied optimistically. Only four brigades had been lost out of fourteen, he assured ‘Amer, and three of them were still holding out at Umm Qatef. Additional troops—the Soviet Union’s or, as in 1956, the UN’s—were sure to intervene soon. “Sir, if you reinforce the northern axis, we can hold out until foreign forces come to secure the Canal.” He never suspected that ‘Amer was thinking retreat.
Yet retreat was precisely his intention, as Fawzi presently found out. He and Operations Chief al-Qadi drafted a plan for a gradual rollback to the Giddi and Mitla passes and a concentrated defense of the Canal. “The withdrawal was supposed to have taken three days,” Murtagi remembered. “The 4th Division was to have remained at the Straits. The next night, that division’s place would be taken by the 6th Division, and on the third night, the 6th would pull out and be replaced by a reserve brigade.” The strategy appeared workable, given the circumstances, yet ‘Amer rejected it on the spot. “I gave you an order to withdraw!” he shouted. “Period!”
No longer waiting for a written plan, the field marshal telephoned his cronies in Sinai. “Make sure that all the planes you have left are ready and waiting by 13:00,” he instructed Sidqi Mahmud, “You are to undertake no missions other than providing aerial cover for the 4th Division, until it gets west of the Canal.” Other protégés he merely advised to evacuate, by whatever means and as quickly as they could. Maj. Gen. ‘Uthman Nassar, for example, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, told his officers that he had an urgent meeting in headquarters, packed up, and left. He was later seen frequenting cafés in Cairo. But most officers would learn of the order only by hearsay. The direct lines between them and Fawzi’s headquarters had all been severed before the war, on ‘Amer�
��s explicit instructions.
‘Amer would later justify his decision by citing the collapse of Egypt’s air power and the fall of the first line of defense: “Withdrawal was the only way I could prevent the army from total destruction and captivity.” But the results of the order were precisely that, as a massive army assembled over twenty-four days attempted in as many hours to retreat.
“The Battalion Commander summoned us and told us that we had to pull back,” remembered Muhammad Ahmad Khamis, a communications officer with the 4th Division. “It came as a total surprise. My soldiers’ morale was high, in preparation for the attack—how was I to face them?” Telling them nothing, Khamis had his men drive through the night. “Suddenly, as dawn rose, my driver looked out and saw the Canal. ‘We have retreated! We have retreated!’ he started screaming, weeping with astonishment and fear.” Other units were less fortunate. Jammed on roads with thousands of vehicles, tens of thousands of men, many Egyptians became easy prey for marauding Israeli jets. The aerial cover ordered by ‘Amer never materialized.6
The arcane and convoluted relationship between Nasser and ‘Amer had finally translated into anarchy in the field. Their honor irrevocably tarnished by the loss of their air force, of Gaza and northern Sinai, neither man had the will or the presence of mind to effect damage control. Neither had the skill to execute an organized retreat, always the most difficult of military maneuvers. Perhaps they believed that the face-saving myth of 1956 would repeat itself, and that the retreat could be spun as a tactical maneuver necessitated by over-whelming, imperialist odds. Maybe they hoped that so dramatic a setback to Soviet arms would impel the Russians to intercede. Ultimately, though, the question of why the order was given and who, Nasser or ‘Amer, issued it, became moot. The Egyptian army was running.
Six Days of War Page 35
