Six Days of War

by Michael B. Oren

  33. USNA, Central Foreign Policy files, 1967-1969, POL 77-14 ARAB-ISR, box 1832: Goldberg to Rusk, June 6, 1967. PRO, FCO 17/494, Israel - Political Affairs: Hayman Minute, June 8, 1967. LBJ, National Security file, Country file, box 104, 107: Davis to Rostow, June 6, 1967. PRO, FCO 17/492, Israel - Political Affairs: New York to Foreign Office, June 6, 1967. LBJ, National Security file, NSC Histories, Middle East Crisis, box 23: Washington to Amman and London, June 10, 1967. Riad, The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East, p. 27 (Riad quote). Murtagi, Al-Fariq Murtagi Yarwi al-Haqa’iq, p. 154. Lall, The UN and the Middle East Crisis, pp. 59-62. U Thant, View from the UN, pp. 258-59. Mutawi, Jordan in the 1967 War, p. 158. Muhammad El-Farra, Years of Decision (London: KPI, 1987) pp. 1-22, 50-57. Oral history interview with Muhammad al-Farra, Nov. 17, 1999.

  34. ISA, 7920/4, Levi Eshkol Papers, Prime Minister’s Speeches, Surveys, and Reports: Bitan to Harman, Evron, Eban, and Rafael, June 6, 1967; 7920/3, Diplomatic Telegrams, Negotiations: Harman to the Prime Minister, June 6, 1967. IDF, 717/77, file 32: Summary of the Battle for the Southern Front, p. 29. Rabin quote from Memoirs, p. 113. Baron, Hotam Ishi, pp. 65-66. Warhaftig, Hamishim Shana ve-Shana, p. 190. Haber, Ha-Yom Tifrotz Milhama, pp. 240-41 (Eshkol quote).

  35. Nasser letter in Hussein, My “War” with Israel, pp. 92-93. Hussein quote in Kamm, Hussein Poteah be-Milhama, p. 296. Mutawi, Jordan in the 1967 War, pp. 129-30. PRO, FCO/17/275 Defense Attaché’s Report on the Jordan-Israel Battles (Colonel J.F. Weston-Simons), Amman to Foreign Office, June 7, 1967. Israel Intelligence Library, Internal Jordanian Army Papers: Series of Events on the Jordanian Front, June, 1967. Oral history interview with Shafic ‘Ujeilat, Nov. 17, 1999.

  36. LBJ, National Security file, History of the Middle East Conflict, box 20: United States Policy and Diplomacy in the Middle East Crisis, May 15-June 10, 1967, p. 129. Hussein, My “War” with Israel, p. 95. Kamm, Hussein Poteah be-Milhama, pp. 296, 304. Mutawi, Jordan in the 1967 War, pp. 129, 139-40, 156. Hammel, Six Days in June, p. 375. Israel Intelligence Library, Internal Jordanian Army Papers: Sequence of Events on the Jordanian Front, June, 1967. Oral history interview with Yusuf Khawwash, Nov. 16, 1999.

  Day Three, June 7

  1. Hussein cable to Nasser in Hussein, My “War” with Israel, pp. 93-94. Hussein’s orders in USNA, Middle East Crisis files, 1967, Misc. Documents, box 14: Morehouse to Houghton, June 7, 1967. El Edroos, The Hashemite Arab Army, pp. 398-99. Dupuy, Elusive Victory, p. 302. IDF, 901/67/1 Central Command: Six Day War, Concluding Report, Part A. Oral history interview with ‘Ata ‘Ali, Nov. 18, 1999; with Badi ‘Awad, Nov. 21, 1999. Mutawi, Jordan in the 1967 War, p. 140.

  2. USNA, Middle East Crisis files, 1967, box 1: Chronology of U.S.-Jordanian Consultations on the Middle East, June 7, 1967. Cable from Cairo in Hussein, My “War” with Israel, pp. 94-95. Kamm, Hussein Poteah be-Milhama, pp. 243-46 (al-Darubi quote). Hammel, Six Days in June, pp. 366-74. Benziman, Ir lelo Homa, pp. 22-25, 29. Bartov, Dado, p. 98. Oral history interview with Adnan Abu Oudeh, Nov. 16, 1999.

  3.LBJ, National Security file, History of the Middle East Conflict, box 20: United States Policy and Diplomacy in the Middle East Crisis, May 15-June 10, 1967, pp. 129 (Barbour quote), 132-33. USNA, Middle East Crisis files, 1967, box 1: Chronology of U.S.-Jordanian Consultations on the Middle East, June 7, 1967. ISA, 4086/4, Foreign Ministry files, Security Council Meetings 2. Director-General’s Office to Levavi and the Defense Ministry. Haber, Ha-Yom Tifrotz Milbama, p. 238. Zak, Hussein Ose Shalom, pp. 110-15.

  4. IDF, 192/74/1076 Rav Siah ba-Nose: Shihrur Yerushalayim: n.d Baron 67.901/67/1 Central Command: Six Day War, Concluding Report, Part A (Bar-lev and Narkiss quotes). Gur, Har ha-Bayyit be-Yadeinu!, pp. 284, 309; Gur quote on p. 287. Dupuy, Elusive Victory, pp. 303-4. Hammer, Six Days in June, p. 350. Haber, Ha-Yom Tifrotz Milhama, p. 233. Rabinovich, The Battle for Jerusalem, pp. 410-19; Gur quote on p. 419. Benziman, Ir lelo Homa, pp. 20-21. Shragai, Har ha-Meriva, p. 21. Baron, Hotam Ishi, p. 67 (Dayan quote). Oral history interview with Mahmud Abu Faris, Nov. 17, 1999.

  5. Kollek, For Jerusalem, p. 194. Biographical information on Kollek, Herzog and Goren from the Jewish Agency Zionist Education website, www.jajz-ed.org.il.

  6. USNA, Middle East Crisis files, 1967, box 1: Chronology of U.S.-Jordanian Consultations on the Middle East, June 7, 1967. PRO, PREM 13 1620, Middle East Crisis: Foreign Office to Amman, June 7, 1967; Amman to Foreign Office, June 7, 1967; FCO 17/493, Israel - Political Affairs: Foreign Office to Amman, June 7, 1967; Tel Aviv to Foreign Office, June 7, 1967. ISA, 7920/1, Levi Eshkol Papers, Diplomatic Telegrams: Eban to Eshkol, June 7, 1967; 7920/4, Prime Minister’s Speeches, Surveys, and Reports: Eshkol’s Remarks to the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, June 7, 1967; Remez to Levavi, June 7, 1967.

  7. IDF, 901/67/1: Central Command: Six Day War, Concluding Report, Part A; 192/74/1076: Roundtable Discussion on the Liberation of Jerusalem, n.d. (Achman quote). Gur, Har ha-Bayyit be-Yadeinu!, pp. 316-24. Benziman, Ir lelo Homa, p. 29. O’Balance, The Third Arab-Israeli War, pp. 208-11. Harel, Sha’ar ha-Arayot, pp. 160-62. Hammel, Six Days in June, pp. 335-36 (Goren quote).

  8. Uzi Narkiss, “Kakh Uhda Yerushalayim,”Bamahane 34 (May 1987); Soldier of Jerusalem, p. 209 (Narkiss quote). Dayan quote from Mansoor, Arab World, entry for June 7, 1967. Rabin quotes from Rabin, Memoirs, pp. 111-12, and Slater, Rabin of Israel, p. 142. Donovan, Six Days in June, p. 120. Nadav Shragai, Har ha-Meriva, pp. 23-24, 28-30.

  9. Haber, Ha-Yom Tifrotz Milhama, pp. 242-45. Eban, Personal Witness, p. 419. Warhaftig, Hamishim Shana ve-Shana, pp. 204-6.

  10. USNA, Middle East Crisis, Chronology June 4th-7th, box 1: Amman to the Department of State, June 6, 1967; Miscellaneous Documents, box 14: Morehouse to Houghton, June 7, 1967 (officer’s description of Hussein). Israel Intelligence Library, Internal Jordanian Army Papers: Sequence of Events on the Jordanian Front, June, 1967. Dayan, My Life, p. 370. Susser, On Both Banks of the Jordan, p. 17. Narkiss, Soldier of Jerusalem, p. 209. Al-Shara’, Hurubuna ma’a Isra’il, p. 494. Kamm, Hussein Poteah be-Milhama, p. 296.

  11. IDF, 717/77, file 32: Summary of the Battle for the Southern Front, pp. 57-62. USNA, Lot files, USUN, box 6: Circular: Middle East Sitrep as of June 7. LBJ, National Security file, History of the Middle East Crisis, box 21: CIA Intelligence Memorandum, Arab-Israeli Situation Report, June 8, 1967; box 104, 107: Cincstrike and Eucom for Polad, June 8, 1967. Fawzi, Harb al-Thalath Sanawat, pp. 151-56. Rabin, Memoirs, pp. 107-8. Hammel, Six Days in June, pp. 251-53. Baron, Hotam Ishi, pp. 67, 71. Slater, Rabin of Israel, p. 150. Schiff, A History of the Israeli Army, p. 133. Al-Sabbagh, Mudhakkirat Qadat al-‘Askaraiyya al-Misriyya 10 pp. 9-10 (Khalil quote). Mahmud ‘Abd al-Hafiz’s testimony appears in Darraz, Dubbat Yunyu Yatakallamun, pp. 135-46. Interview with Sidqi al-Ghul in al-Ra’i al-‘Am, June 2, 1987. Oral history interview with Meir Pa’il, Dec. 6, 2000.

  12. ISA, Foreign Ministry files, 4085/1: Emergency Situation 1967 - Prisoners, June 14, 1967. USNA, Middle East Crisis files, 1967, Chronology, box 8: Tel Aviv to the Secretary of State, June 8, 1967. Dupuy, Elusive Victory, pp. 271-75. Fawzi, Harb al-Thalath Sanawat, pp. 151-56. Al-Sabbagh, Mudhakkirat Qadat al-‘Askaraiyya al-Misriyya 5, p. 28. Rabin, Memoirs, pp. 107-8. Hammel, Six Days in June, pp. 251-53. Baron, Hotam Ishi, pp. 67, 71. Slater, Rabin of Israel, p. 150. Schiff, A History of the Israeli Army, p. 133. Sharon, Warrior, pp. 194-95. O’Balance, The Third Arab-Israeli War, pp. 144-45. Mahmud ‘Abd al-Hafiz’s testimony appears in Darraz, Dubbat Yunyu Yatakallamun, pp. 135-46. Asher quote from Avraham Shapira, ed., The Seventh Day: Soldiers Talk About the Six-Day War (New York: Scribners, 1970), p. 66. Oral history interview with Mahmud al-Suwarqa, July 7, 2001.

  13. The testimonies of ‘Azzam Shirahi and Dr. ‘Abd al-Fattah al-Tarki appear in Darraz, Dubbat Yunyu Yatakallamun, pp. 89-94 and 107-18, respectively. Oral history interview with Amin Tantawi, July 4, 2001.

  14. Mazhar, I’tirafat Qadat Harb Yunyu, p. 177. Fawzi, Harb al-Thalath Sanawat, pp. 151-53. Murtagi, Al-Fariq Murtagi Ya
rwi al-Haqa’iq, p. 163. Quote from Ramadan, Tahtim al-Aliha, p. 105. Oral history interview with Al-Shirbini Sa’id Hamada, July 5, 2001.

  15. LBJ, National Security file, History of the Middle East Crisis, box 19: CIA, Office of National Estimate—Current Soviet Attitudes, June 9, 1967; State Department Activities Report, June 7, 1967; Country file, box 104, 107: Davis to Rostow, June 6, 1967; New York to the Department of State, June 8, 1967; Soviet Official’s Comments on Soviet Policy on the Middle Eastern War, June 8, 1967. Heikal, Al-Infijar, pp. 728-31. Parker, The Politics of Miscalculation in the Middle East, pp. 33-34. Segev, Sadin Adom, p. 132. Pravda quote from ISA, Foreign Ministry files, 4083/3, Contacts with the Soviet Union, Moscow to Foreign Ministry, June 6, 1967. Dagan, Moscow and Jerusalem, pp. 226-27 (Chuvakhin quote and Kosygin’s letter to Eshkol). Al-‘Ilmi, Harb ‘Am 1967, pp. 203-7. I. I. Mintz, Sionizm: Teoria i Praktika (Moscow: Izdetelstvo Politicheskoy Literatury, 1970), pp. 111-12. See also Yosef Argaman, “Nasser Metzaltzel le-Hussein: Ha-Siha,”Bamahane 18 (January 1989).

  16. ISA, 7920/2, Levi Eshkol Papers, Diplomatic Telegrams, USSR: Tekoah to New York, June 7, 1967 (Kosygin cable to Eshkol). PRO, FCO 17/493, Israel - Political Affairs: Kosygin to Wilson, June 7, 1967. Eshkol in Dagan, Moscow and Jerusalem, pp. 229-30. Haber, Ha-Yom Tifrotz Milhama, pp. 243-44. Wilson, Chariot of Israel, pp. 351-52.

  17. Mazhar, I’tirafat Qadat Harb Yunyu, pp. 188-90. Fawzi, Harb al-Thalath Sanawat, pp. 155-61. Murtagi, Al-Fariq Murtagi Yarwi al-Haqa’iq, pp. 164-65. Ramadan, Tahtim al-Aliha, pp. 136-37 (including orders to the 4th Division).

  18. UN, DAG 1/5.2.2.1.2-2, The Middle East, Eban to the Secretary-General, June 7, 1967. Baron, Hotam Ishi, pp. 73-74 (Dayan quote). Haber, Ha-Yom Tifrotz Milhama, pp. 237-40, 244 (Lior, Allon, Eshkol and Tekoah quotes). Zak, Hussein Ose Shalom, pp. 110-15. PRO, FCO 17/494, Israel - Political Affairs: Hayman Minute, June 8, 1967.

  19. LBJ, National Security file, Country file, box 104, 107: Minutes of the NSC Meeting, June 7, 1967; Rostow to the President, June 7, 1967; History of the Middle East Crisis, box 19: Bundy to the President, June 9, 1967; Guidelines for U.S. Position and Action in Connections with the Present ME Situation, by Nadav Safran and Stanley Hoffman, June 8, 1967. USNA, POL AR-ISR, Mintues of the Control Group, box 17: Twelfth Control Group Meeting, June 7, 1967.

  20. LBJ National Security file, Country file, Middle East Crisis, box 104, 107: Tel Aviv to the Department of State, June 7, 1967 (Barbour quote); USNA, Middle East Crisis, Chronology June 4th-7th, box 8: Tel Aviv to the Department of State, June 7, 1967 (report from Tel Aviv); USUN, box 6: Circular: Middle East Sitrep as of June 7. USNA, POL ARAB-ISR, United Nations files, box 1: Tel Aviv to the Secretary of State, June 8, 1967. ISA, Foreign Ministry files, 4089/15: Rome to Foreign Ministry, June 7, 1967. PRO, FO 17/11, American Middle East Policy, Urwick to Morris, June 7, 1967 (Bank of Israel plans). See also Reuven Pedatzur, “Coming Back Full Circle: The Palestinian Option of 1967,”Middle East Journal 49, no. 2 (Spring 1995).

  21. USNA, Arab-Israeli Crisis, box 17: Minutes of the Control Group, June 7, 1967. LBJ, National Security file, Country file, box 104, 107: Rusk to London, June 7, 1967 (“territorial integrity”); Minutes of the NSC Meeting, June 7, 1967 (“attorneys for Israel”); Memorandum for Mr. Bundy, June 7, 1967; CIA Intelligence Memorandum: Impact on Western Europe and Japan of a Denial of Arab oil, June 7, 1967; Mrs. Arthur Krim to Walt Rostow, June 7, 1967. Draper, Israel & World Politics, p. 117. William B. Quandt, “The Conflict in American Foreign Policy,” in Rabinovich and Shaked, From June to October, p. 5.

  22. Oral history interview with Rafi Benvenisti, Jan. 1, 1999. Susser, On Both Banks of the Jordan, pp. 19-20. Hammel, Six Days in June, pp. 377-80. Donovan, Six Days in June, p. 121. Kamm, Hussein Poteah be-Milhama, p. 217. Dupuy, Elusive Victory, pp. 301-2. Shashar, Milhemet ha-Yom ha-Shvi’i, p. 20. Ram quote from Bartov, Dado, p. 98. Dayan, My Life, p. 370. Al-Shara’, Hurubuna ma’a Isra’il, pp. 493-95.

  23. Hammel, Six Days in June, pp. 254-59. Sorer, Derekh ha-Mitla, pp. 37-38. Dupuy, Elusive Victory, pp. 273-75. The Six Days’ War (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1967), p. 36. Al-‘Ilmi, Harb ‘Am 1967, pp. 176-85.

  Day Four, June 8.

  1. USNA, Middle East Crisis files, 1967, box 1: Chronology of U.S.-Jordanian Consultations on the Middle East, June 8, 1967. PRO, PREM 13 1620 Middle East Crisis: Amman to Foreign Office, June 10, 1967. UN, DAG 1/5.2.2.1.2-2, Middle East: Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jordan to the Secretary-General, June 8, 1967. Hussein, My “War” with Israel, p. 88. Khalid Fakhida, “Al-Fariq Haditha lil-Hadath: Sharakna fi Harb ‘67 Irda’an li-‘Abd al-Nasir wa-Man’an min ‘Takhwin’ al-Urdun,”al-Hadath, no. 265 (Jan. 29, 2001).

  2. Hammel, Six Days in June, pp. 258-59. Mustafa, Harb Haziran, pp. 118-19. “Hail ha-Avir ba-Milhama,”Bit’on Hail ha-Avir 3, no. 74/75 (December 1967), p. 265. IDF, 901/67/1 Central Command: The Six-Day War, Concluding Report, Part A, 3 (Narkiss quote), p. 38 (evaluation of Jordanian soldiers). Mutawi, Jordan in the 1967 War, p. 140.

  3. IDF, 717/77, file 32: Summary of the Battle for the Southern Front, pp. 31 (Dayan quote), 63, 399 (Even quote). LBJ, National Security file, History of the Middle East Crisis, box 21: CIA Intelligence Memoranda, Arab-Israeli Situation Report, June 8, 1967; box 104, 107. Middle East Crisis: Joint Embassy Memorandum, June 8, 1967 (Yariv quote). ‘Amer, Murtagi and Muhsin quotes from Al-Sabbagh, Mudhakkirat Qadat al-‘Askaraiyya al-Misriyya 1, pp. 30-31. Rabin quote in Haber, Ha-Yom Tifrotz Milhama, p. 245. Dupuy, Elusive Victory, pp. 264, 276-77. Hammel, Six Days’ in June, pp. 268-69. Dayan, “Before and After the Battle,” in The Six Days’ War (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1967), p. 36. Riad, The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East, p. 32. Fawzi, Harb al-Thalath Sanawat, p. 148. Aviezer Golan, Albert (Tel Aviv: Yediot Ahronot, 1977), p. 118. Sorer, Derekh ha-Mitla, pp. 37-39, 93-101.

  4. Dayan, My Life, p. 367. Slater, Rabin of Israel, p. 150. Schiff, A History of the Israeli Army, p. 133. Hammel, Six Days in June, pp. 264-78. Dupuy, Elusive Victory, pp. 274-75. Oral history interviews with yeshayahu Gavish, Dec. 7, 1999; with Meir Pa’il, Dec. 6, 2000; with Rehavam Ze’evi, Sept. 9, 2001.

  5. LBJ National Security file, Middle East Crisis, box 104, 107: Tel Aviv to the Department of State, June 8, 1967; box 20: United States Policy and Diplomacy in the Middle East Crisis, May 15-June 10, 1967, pp. 140-41; box 23: Tel Aviv to the Secretary of State, June 8, 1967; Beirut to the Secretary of State, June 8, 1967; NSC Histories, Middle East Crisis, box 23: Tel Aviv to the Secretary of State, June 8, 1967; USNA, Middle East Crisis files, 1967, Situation Reports, box 14: Middle East Sitrep as of June 7. Al-Shuqayri, Mudhakkirat 5, p. 330. Hart, Arafat, pp. 199-200. Kimche and Bawly, The Sandstorm, pp. 200-201. Mustafa, Harb Haziran, pp. 193-94. Khouri, Al-Watha’iq al-Filastiniyya, p. 354. Khalil, Suqut al-Julan, pp. 100-101. Mayzel, Ha-Ma’arakha al ha-Golan, p. 438. Syrian army record in Israel Intelligence Library: Internal Syrian Army Papers: The Southwestern Front, June 29, 1967.

  6. Baron, Hotam Ishi, p. 83. Eshkoli and Eshkol quotes from Eretz ha-Golan, no. 100 (1985), pp. 32-33. Warhaftig, Hamishim Shana ve-Shana, pp. 186-89. Haber, Ha-YomTifrotz Milhama, pp. 244-46 (Aran quote). Gilboa, Shesh Shanim, Shisha Yamim, p. 232. Ha’aretz quote from USNA, POL ARAB-ISR, United Nations files, box 1: Tel Aviv to the Secretary of State, June 8, 1967. Bar-Lev quote from Guy, Bar-Lev, p. 139. Dayan quote from YAD, Interview with Matti Mayzel, June 20, 1996.

  7. Rabin, Memoirs, p. 113. Elazar quotes from YAD, Interview with Haim Nadel, June 20, 1996, from Bartov, Dado, pp. 99-101, Mayzel, Ha-Ma’arakha al ha-Golan, pp. 225-27. Golan, Albert, pp. 124-25. Allon and Ber quotes from Haber, Ha-Yom Tifrotz Milhama, p. 247. Oral history interview with Rehavam Ze’evi, Sept. 9, 2001.

  8. LBJ National Security file, Middle East Crisis, box 104, 107: Joint Embassy Memorandum, June 8, 1967; Report of the American Consulate in Jerusalem, June 8, 1967 (“an apparent prelude…”); The Secretary of State to Tel Aviv, June 8, 1967. Eban, Personal Witness, p. 424. IDF, 901/67/1 Central Command: The Six-Day War, Con
cluding Report, Part A, pp. 9-10. Eban, Personal Witness, p. 423 (Bundy quote).