Exercise #2: Prospects for Peace after 1967

This is what I prepared for the exercise...

What do we know about the Six Day/June War?

● Israel attacked first on June 5, 1967, attacking the Egyptian air force.

● Israel termed the attack “pre-emptive” in response to what they deemed an imminent
attack by Arab military forces including forces from Egypt, Syria, Jordan with less
substantial troop contributions from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria.

● Egypt had amassed more than 100,000 troops in the Sinai as well as expelled UN
peacekeepers and closed the Straits of Tiran prior to Israel’s attack.

● Syria’s army was amassed in the Golan Heights on their border with Israel.

● Jordan (reluctantly) amassed forces in the West Bank which they had occupied since 1948.

● Israel easily won the war in 6 days, claiming the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Desert (from
Egypt), the West Bank and Jerusalem (from Jordan), and the Golan Heights (from Syria).

● Israel latter “traded” the Sinai Desert “for peace” with Egypt but annexed the Golan
Heights and Jerusalem and continue to occupy the West Bank and the Gaza Strip—
though the occupation of the Gaza Strip is to a lesser degree than the occupation of the
West Bank.

● On September 1, 1967, the Arab League met in Khartoum, Sudan and passed the
Khartoum Resolution which stated “no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no
negotiations with it, and insistence on the rights of the Palestinian people in their own
country” (Article 3).

● Israel has long sided the Khartoum Resolution as evidence that there is no one of the
Arab side with which to negotiate.

● Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat, broke with the Khartoum Resolution when he visited
Jerusalem (November 1977) and subsequently signed the Camp David Accords in 1978 which “traded land for peace”--- in this case, the Sinai Desert was returned to Egypt in exchange for peace with Israel. In addition, Israeli ships were granted passage through the Suez canal and the Strait of Tiran, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Taba—Rafah straits were recognized as
international waterways.

Was Israel ready for peace after 1967?--- Yes.
From Myths and Facts by Mitchell G. Bard, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf7.html#e

MYTH
“After the 1967 war, Israel refused to negotiate a settlement with the Arabs.”

FACT
After its victory in the Six-Day War, Israel hoped the Arab states would enter peace negotiations. Israel signaled to the Arab states its willingness to relinquish virtually all the territories it acquired in exchange for peace. As Moshe Dayan put it, Jerusalem was waiting only for a telephone call from Arab leaders to start negotiations. But these hopes were dashed in August 1967 when Arab leaders meeting in Khartoum adopted a formula of three noes: "no peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, no recognition of Israel...." As former Israeli President Chaim Herzog wrote: "Israel's belief that the war had come to an end and that peace would now reign along the borders was soon dispelled. Three weeks after the conclusion of hostilities, the first major incident occurred on the Suez Canal."

Was Israel ready for peace after 1967?--- No.

From Elon, Amos (2002), “Israelis and Palestinians: What Went Wrong” The New York Times Review of Books, December 19, 2002, Accessed 14 April 2010, Available at http://www94.homepage.villanova.edu/peter.knapp/What%20went%20wrong.pdf.

● Israel immediately sought to settle, colonize and annex parts of the West Bank, the Gaza
Strip and the Golan Heights.

● Israel never had any intention of ceding the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for peace.

● Israel’s victory had humiliated Soviet allies, thus the U.S. was not interested in a peaceful
resolution of the conflict.

● Israel believed it held a far superior position to the Arab states and thus were determined
to hold their ground until the Arabs gave in.

● Israel was unwilling to cede any part of Jerusalem to Jordan in exchange for peace.

● According to Michael Ben Yair, Israel's attorney general in the Rabin government, “The
Six-Day War was forced on us; but the war's Seventh day, which began on June 12,
1967—continues to this day and is the product of our choice. We enthusiastically chose
to become a colonialist society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands,
transferring settlers from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft and finding
justifications for all this.” (cited by Amos 2002: 13).

Were the Arab states ready for peace after 1967?--- Yes.

● King Hussein began negotiations with Israel in 1970 and was ready to trade peace if
“Israel withdrew from much of the West Bank as well as from East Jerusalem and if the
Muslim and Christian holy places in the Old City were restored to Jordan” (Amos 2002:
11).

● Egypt, Syria, and Jordan never received offers of peace from Israel that were supposed to by conveyed via the United States. According to these offers, Israel would return the Sinai Desert to Egypt, the Golan Heights to Syria, negotiate with Jordan over the Eastern
border in exchange for peace. (This is a highly controversial point.)

● Egypt and Jordan accepted UN Resolution 242 which called for Israeli withdrawal from
occupied territories in exchange for peace--- that is, recognition of the state of Israel and
an end to belligerency.

Were the Arab states ready for peace after 1967?--- No.

● Jews were persecuted and expelled from Arab states notably in Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon,
Tunisia, Morocco, and Iraq.
From Myths and Facts by Mitchell G. Bard, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf7.html#e

MYTH
“The Arab states and the PLO accepted Resolution 242 whereas Israel rejected it.”

FACT
The Arab states have traditionally said they accepted 242 as defined by them, that is, as requiring Israel's total, unconditional withdrawal from the occupied territories.
In a statement to the General Assembly October 15, 1968, the PLO, rejecting Resolution 242, said "the implementation of said resolution will lead to the loss of every hope for the establishment of peace and security in Palestine and the Middle East region."
By contrast, Ambassador Abba Eban expressed Israel's position to the Security Council on May 1, 1968: "My government has indicated its acceptance of the Security Council resolution for the promotion of agreement on the establishment of a just and lasting peace. I am also authorized to reaffirm that we are willing to seek agreement with each Arab State on all matters included in that resolution." It took nearly a quarter century, but the PLO finally agreed that Resolutions 242 and 338 should be the basis for negotiations with Israel when it signed the Declaration of Principles in September 1993.

MYTH
“The Palestinians were willing to negotiate a settlement after the Six-Day War.”

FACT
The Arab League created the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Cairo in 1964 as a weapon against Israel. Until the Six-Day War, the PLO engaged in terrorist attacks that contributed to the momentum toward conflict. Neither the PLO nor any other Palestinian groups campaigned for Jordan or Egypt to create an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. The focus of Palestinian activism was on the destruction of Israel. After the Arab states were defeated in 1967, the Palestinians did not alter their basic objective. With one million Arabs coming under Israeli rule, some Palestinians believed the prospect for waging a popular war of liberation had grown. Toward that end, Yasser Arafat instigated a campaign of terror from the West Bank. During September-December 1967, 61 attacks were launched, most against civilian targets such as factories, movie theaters and private homes. Israeli security forces gradually became more effective in thwarting terrorist plans inside Israel and the territories. Consequently, the PLO began to pursue a different strategy — attacking Jews and Israeli targets abroad. In early 1968, the first of many aircraft was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists.