Six Days of War

by Michael B. Oren

  There he found the field marshal heavily intoxicated, ranting about conspiracies, and demanding large doses of sleeping pills. Nasser managed to calm him down, and in doing so, to restore some clarity to his own thinking. “A regime which is unable to defend the borders of its homeland loses its legitimacy,” the president told his best friend and fiercest political rival. “As sad as we may be right now, we have to know that our rule has ended in tragedy.”‘Amer offered no argument, but instead proposed passing the reins of government to Shams Badran, his hand-picked defense minister. Nasser preferred his vice president, Zakkariya Muhieddin.

  At 7:00 that morning, Nasser received a visit from his protégé, Mohamed Hassanein Heikal. The Al-Abram editor was shocked: The president had aged ten years in half as many days. Nasser said that he accepted complete responsibility for the debacle and would face a firing squad, if the people so determined. He could not, however, continue in office, if for no other reason than that Egypt’s leader would now have to work closely with the United States—a task for which he was far too bitter. Rather, he would announce his resignation that evening; senior military commanders would also forfeit their posts. With that, Nasser rose to leave, but before he could, the phone rang. ‘Amer, crying hysterically, had called to say that the Israelis had crossed the Canal and were now racing toward Cairo. “He’s completely lost his nerve,” sighed Nasser, hanging up. “And that’s how he lost his army.”9

  Nasser’s announcement was broadcast live at 6:30 that evening, shortly after Cairo Radio informed its listeners that “calm now prevails on the front and all operations have been halted in accordance with the cease-fire decision.” The president’s tone was subdued, his voice uncharacteristically frail. Citing Israel’s intention to invade Syria, he defended his decisions to remilitarize Sinai, oust UNEF, and blockade the Tiran Straits, and stressed the pressure that both the U.S. and the USSR had levied on Egypt not to fire first. He credited Israel with a surprise attack—“We expected the enemy to come from the east and the north, but instead he came from the west”—but assigned its success to the open assistance afforded Israel by U.S. and British aircraft. To reverse the “setback” (al-naksa), as Nasser called it, the Arabs would have to unite against Israel and maintain their faith in eventual victory. Then, as anticipated, Nasser accepted full responsibility for his actions; he tendered his resignation and announced Muhieddin as his successor. His concluding words seemed to evoke an earlier Nasser, the author of The Philosophy of the Revolution:

  The forces of imperialism imagine that Abdel Nasser is their enemy. I want it to be clear to them that it is the entire Arab nation and not Gamal Abdel Nasser…for the hope of Arab unity began before Gamal Abdel Nasser and it will remain after Gamal Abdel Nasser. It is the nation which survives. Whatever Nasser’s contribution to the causes of his homeland, he is but an expression of a popular will and is not the creator of that will.

  No sooner had Nasser uttered these words when planes were heard in the Cairo sky; anti-aircraft batteries began firing. Suddenly, as if on cue, the streets filled with people. Hundreds of thousands of people—children, women, university students—flooded down Manshiet al-Bakri avenue. Tearing their hair, their clothing, beating their heads, the demonstrators cried, “Nasser, don’t leave us!” Eric Rouleau described hearing “a roaring, like the sea,” and witnessing “a great black mass” proceeding toward the city center. “All of a sudden I found myself wading through multitudes of people,” recounted Mahmoud Riad. “Angry people and highly incensed, clamoring that Nasser must stay…[and that] honor and dignity be avenged.”

  Similar outpourings of devotion for Nasser occurred in Alexandria and in cities throughout the Middle East, from Rabat to Baghdad. “I urge you to respond to the nation’s wishes and stay on,” King Hussein wrote Nasser in a cable broadcast over Radio Amman. “The battle is only beginning.” Prominent Egyptian intellectuals, National Assembly representatives, and union officials, rushed to declare their allegiance to the president. Muhieddin publicly declined to assume his place. The TV anchorman covering the speech broke into tears, sobbing, “Let bombs fall and let the Sixth Fleet come to our shore, but we want you to stay!” Nasser’s photograph promptly filled the screen.

  Many Westerners were incredulous about the spontaneity of these events, dismissing them as “a deliberate ploy by Nasser to strengthen his sagging position with renewed popular mandate.” R.M. Tesh, the Canadian ambassador, called the speech “a superlative stroke with all the weird and wonderful qualities of which Nasser is master…[that] quickly turned the tables of outrageous defeat to victory.”Life magazine correspondent Thomas Thompson asked rhetorically, “Is Nasser putting on a show?” and then answered himself: “It would seem so. The resignation, the ack-ack, the blackout, the momentary panic, the hysterical mobs, all of it builds to the inescapable conclusion that only Nasser could keep the country together.” Rouleau, virtually alone, rejected such skepticism. “You don’t organize millions of people in a few hours,” he explained. “People despised Nasser for leading them to disaster, but they also loved him as a father. They didn’t want him to desert them, and they had nobody else to trust. After all, who was Muhieddin?”

  Whether impromptu or not, the outpouring of support proved irresistible. Nasser accepted the resignations of ‘Amer and Badran and of virtually all his general staff—the army’s command went to Muhammad Fawzi—but quickly rescinded his own. A statement pledged that the president would discuss his position with the National Assembly, but en route to the session, his motorcade was allegedly blocked by celebrating citizens. The next communiqué revealed that Nasser “could not ignore the voice of the people,” and would remain in office until “the traces of Israel’s aggression were eradicated.”10

  “Imperialist Pressures”

  Even as Nasser pledged to restore conquered Arab lands, the extent of Israel’s conquests was expanding. Unsuccessful in their bid to recruit Arab assistance, fearful of an Israeli drive on Damascus itself, the Syrians had little choice but to appeal to the United Nations.

  At 5:30 A.M. in New York, as the Israelis were pressing their attack beyond the Golan escarpment, George Tomeh called Hans Tabor, the Security Council president, and demanded an emergency session. “In spite of our observance of the cease-fire,” Syria’s formal protest read, “we are now being subjected to an Israeli attack on the whole length of the armistice demarcation line and against our towns and villages.” Verbally, Tomeh went further, charging that Israeli planes were bombing Damascus and Israeli paratroopers landing in Quneitra.

  Israel’s response was reserved and evasive. Official sources had yet to announce that an offensive was even taking place—Israel Radio made no mention of it—only that the Syrian shelling of northern Galilee was continuing. Wally Barbour, reporting on a conversation with Eban, assured the State Department that the operation would soon be over and that “should make the cease fire with Syria effective not only de jure but de facto.” At the UN, Gideon Rafael claimed that sixteen settlements were being shelled, and dismissed Syria’s acceptance of the cease-fire as “nothing but camouflage for a premeditated…attack against Israel.”

  So began what the Israeli ambassador later described as a debate “unsurpassed in vehemence.” Mohammad El Kony added to Tomeh’s charges by reporting that the Israelis were also bombing Cairo. Rafael, incensed, dismissed the claim as “a malicious fabrication,” adding that, “the spreading of irresponsible and false charges of this kind only aggravates the already tense situation in the Middle East.” Federenko demanded that Israel be “severely punished” for its actions, and warned that “non-compliance [with the cease-fire] will have the gravest consequences for the Israeli State.”

  While the Soviets sparred, the Syrians were willing to settle for simple ceasefire resolution—anything to stop the Israeli advance. Before it could be voted on, however, Federenko suddenly insisted on appending articles condemning Israel and ordering it back to the Armistice lines. Goldberg count
ered by accusing the Russians of playing politics at the cost of human lives. Federenko asked in reply, “why then is it that Washington, which has sufficient means to do something, has not lifted one finger to stop the aggressive forces of Israel?”

  Federenko’s grandstanding had cost the Syrians dearly. At 12:30, Tabor called an end to the debate and read out a “lowest common denominator” statement confirming the Council’s interest in a cease-fire and instructing the secretary-general to confer with the warring parties. Thereafter, Undersecretary General Aleksei Nesterenko, a beefy Russian, literally hauled both Tomeh and Rafael into his office—“into two opposite corners like prize-fighters,” the Israeli delegate wrote, “positioning himself like a referee in the middle of the ring”—but made no progress. Rafael claimed that he was still awaiting instructions from Jerusalem. Reminding Nesterenko that “So far it has been the practice that governments instruct their ambassadors and not the Secretariat of the United Nations, and we had better continue to abide by this principle.” He nodded at his Syrian counterpart, and exited.11

  Through a combination of Soviet obduracy and their own stonewalling, the Israelis had gained valuable time for their offensive. The Council was not set to reconvene until 6:30 that night. But while demands to end the fighting waned in the international forum, in Washington they mounted sharply.

  The opening of a third Arab-Israeli front fully exposed the fundamental contradiction in American policy toward the war. While welcoming Israeli gains that could be traded in a future peace settlement, and eager to see Syria’s provocations punished, the administration was also anxious to uphold the cease-fire and avoid any clash with the Soviets. A confrontation with the USSR appeared conceivable when, shortly after news of Israel’s offensive reached Moscow, the Kremlin pledged to “render them [Egypt and Syria] assistance in order to repel the aggression and defend their national independence.”

  The Soviets’ statement strengthened the hands of Rusk and State Department officials who had always resisted armed action by the Israelis, and weakened those of Walt Rostow, Bundy, and Saunders, who had seen its possible advantages. The scales were further tipped by what many in the White House viewed as growing Israeli hubris. In an interview with UPI that day, Eshkol intimated that the U.S. had not lived up to its obligations before the war, thus forcing Israel to act alone. Though the prime minister had been egregiously misquoted—he had actually praised America’s commitment to Israel—Johnson was piqued. “I had a firm commitment from Eshkol [honoring the cease-fire] and he blew it,” the president scribbled on his notepad during a National Security Council meeting. “That old coot isn’t going to pay any attention to any imperialist pressures”—pressures, that is, from both the U.S. and the USSR.12

  Rusk wasted no time in calling the Israelis to task. “Deeply disturbed” by UN reports of Israeli attacks, disinclined to believe that Syria’s guns posed a serious threat to Galilee, he instructed Barbour to find Abba Eban at once. He was to tell the foreign minister that the situation in the Security Council was “deteriorating rapidly” that the United States expected Israel to observe the cease-fire “at all costs” and shoot only in clear-cut cases of self-defense. “We consider it very important that Israel demonstrate by actions on the ground that it…means what it says.”

  The deteriorating situation in the Security Council, the burgeoning Soviet threat and expressions of American displeasure, the alarmingly high casualty rate—all weighed on the Ministerial Defense Committee when it met at 8:00 that evening. The atmosphere was severely strained. Several members, most vocally the NRP’s Haim Moshe Shapira and Yisrael Barzilai of Mapam, were opposed to continuing the Golan offensive, and furious with Dayan for sanctioning it.

  The defense minister had, in fact, just approved the opening of Operation Hammer south. Israeli forces were to conquer Tawafiq, the Syrian fortress overlooking the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee, provided the resistance there proved light. Upon returning from the northern front, however, Dayan found himself on the defensive, forced to explain why he had suddenly reversed his previous opposition to attacking Syria. He cited the sudden move by Egypt and Syria to accept the cease-fire, and Nasser’s telegram to Damascus. Just as the decisions to attack the West Bank and enter the Old City of Jerusalem had been taken on the spur of the moment, in reaction to altered circumstances, so, too, had the approval for the Golan offensive come in response to a new situation. “These notices gave us the possibility of thinking that maybe we had the ability to change the international border between us and Syria,” Dayan attested, intimating—disingenuously—that Eshkol had fully approved the attack.

  The prime minister came close to refuting this claim—“I cannot say that I was asked [by Dayan]”—but however hefty, his reservations about the defense minister could not outweigh his enmity toward Syria. He kept his response oblique: “All day yesterday we were walking on coals…I was really in favor [of the operation] and sorry that it was postponed, though it was truly decided that…if there’s quiet [in the north]—that would oblige us to shut up as well. How can we stop now that we’re in the middle of the operation—I cannot say.”

  But Shapira was less ambiguous. “Why are we now violating the cease-fire in front of the whole world?” he shouted. “I demand to know who’s responsible for violating our [the Defense Committee’s] decision!”

  “The defense minister has a right to change his mind, but the substantive argument has changed from end to end,” seconded Barzilai; “this forum should have reconvened in the middle of the night and made a proper decision.”

  Shapira insisted that the offensive be canceled immediately, and was once again opposed by Allon. “Even if Syria and Egypt had accepted the cease-fire before this meeting, I will still have approved the operation.” Galili agreed: “I would have opposed [halting the attack] even if the cease-fire were mutual.” Menachem Begin said that, while there may have been an “aesthetic” violation of the committee’s decision, Dayan and Eshkol had legitimately exercised their prerogatives. “In the days of Maria Theresa there was a law that said that if a soldier broke discipline but performed an act of bravery, he’d get both a demerit and a medal.”

  Last to address the ministers was Dr. Herzog, the prime minister’s foreign policy adviser, who stated that it was better to risk Israel’s relations with Moscow than to allow Syria to retain the Golan. “The Syrians cannot be allowed to parade in victory,” declared Eshkol finally, “Israel cannot have overturned all the Arab countries and not Syria.”13

  The meeting concluded with approval for continuing the campaign until the following morning, Saturday. Israel lacked both the military wherewithal and diplomatic latitude to pursue fighting further, Dayan argued. “The Syrians are battling like lions,” he reported to yet another gathering of ministers and senior advisers later that night. “We cannot remain in combat during the daylight hours while the Syrians are trying to mount a counter-attack.” He spoke of the need to rush additional troops, together with recently captured armaments, to the Golan, and to possibly bomb Damascus, should the shelling of Galilee continue. Though Eshkol was, for once, more optimistic, suggesting that “if the people at the front feel they can finish the task tonight and tomorrow—let them. In any case they’ll condemn us in the UN.” The goal of conquering the entire Golan seemed well out of Israel’s grasp.

  But events in the field once again outstripped discussions in government. While Dayan explained the reasons why Israel could no longer advance, David Elazar was planning to do just that. In addition to Tawafiq, he had authorized the capture of a wide swath of Golan territory, from Butmiya to Quneitra, following an oil petroleum pipe and its parallel service road, the so-called TAP Line. Farther north, the Banias would also be taken, and the approaches to Mount Hermon.

  Contrary to Dayan’s estimate, Elazar felt he had the forces necessary to complete the job. The traffic jams in the southern sector had finally unraveled, and thousands of reinforcements were reaching the front. Thos
e tanks and half-tracks that had survived the day’s fighting were refueled and replenished with ammunition. Morale, boosted by the evacuation of the wounded, was high. By dawn, a full eight brigades could be thrown against Syria’s second-line defense, irrespective of the government’s hesitations. When, near midnight, Rabin called and canceled orders directing the paratroopers to take the southern Golan, Elazar merely apologized. “Following your previous order, they began to move out,” he replied coyly “I can’t stop them.”

  The Syrians, meanwhile, continued to brace themselves for the onslaught. Convinced that Israel would strike Damascus through Lebanon—IDF troops had staged a feint at the Lebanese border—Suweidani ordered three brigades (the 42nd and 44th Armored and the 35th Infantry)to fall back to protect the capital. Three other brigades (the 11th and the 132nd Infantry and the 7th National Guard Armored Brigade) were ordered to dig in along the second defense line. A message was broadcast to them that night by Hafez al-Assad. “Oh soldiers, 300,000 fighters of the People’s Army are with you in your battle, and behind them, 100 million Arabs,” the defense minister declared. “The cream of our troops stand at the front. Strike the enemy’s settlements, turn them into dust, pave the Arab roads with the skulls of Jews. Strike them without mercy.”14 The fight, Damascus held, was not over.

  THE WAR: DAY SIX, JUNE 10

  The Golan vanquished.

  Furtive maneuvers at the UN.

  Superpower saber-rattling.