The Six Day War: 1967
By 1967, Israel had become a point
of contention in the Middle East. The Jewish state had to fight for its
existence against Egypt and Jordan upon its creation in 1948 from British
Trans-Jordan. The original mandate had been deemed to indefensible, and, in the
course of the fighting in 1948, the Israelis succeeded in expanding their
borders. Guerrilla attacks Arab Palestinians, supported by Gamal Nasser, the
Egyptian premier, were met with Israeli reprisals on the West Bank of the
Jordan.[1]
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| Sherman Tanks on the Golan, 1967 National Photo Collection of Israel, Photography dept. Goverment Press Office, under the digital ID D327-098. |
By 1955, Nasser was aligning
himself with the Soviet block and acquiring tanks and small arms through
Czechoslovakia. The 1956 conflict over the Suez Canal with France, Britain, and
Israel versus Egypt. At the end of the conflict, even though Britain and France
had withdrawn under international pressure, Israel was able to exchange their
hold on the Sinai for guarantees for the straights of Tiran. The Israeli
Defense Forces, or IDF, had demonstrated that it was a well-trained and
competent fighting force both in the air and on the ground. During the 1950s
and early 1960s, Israel was able to acquire massive amounts of military
equipment from France, Great Britain, and the United States.
As Nasser built up his alliances
with Syria and Jordan, the IDF was prepared to make a bold first strike upon
the Arab states if the need arose. Possessing over 1000 modern tanks, the IDF’s
strategy was primarily aimed at destroying Egypt’s military capacity before
Israel’s cities could be directly harmed.[2] By 1965,
tensions were escalating, as Israel skirmished with its neighbors from the
Golan to the West Bank. By May of 1967, Israel began to interpret the growing
Egyptian buildup in the Sinai as preparations for an invasion, and began call
up reservists to active duty.[3]
On June 5, 1967, under the cover of
massive air attacks, IDF tanks and infantry infiltrated Egyptian positions in
the Sinai. At Khan Unis, IDF tankers fought with a mixture of British built
Centurion and American Patton main battle tanks, facing off against Egyptian
T-34s, which although not as modern, gave a good account of themselves.[4]
Elsewhere in the Sinai, Egyptian battalions were equipped with antiquated but
still impressive Russian “Stalin” heavy tanks, while IDF tankers in some cases
were still equipped with older WWII surplus Sherman tanks, but Israeli
successes were attributed to Egyptian confusion and superior planning. At
al-Arish, Egyptian mistook the oncoming IDF columns for their own, and the
Israeli tanks were among them before they could beat off their attack. However,
after a fierce point blank tank battle, the IDF’s 79th Tank
battalion had suffered the loss of twenty-eight of its tanks or vehicles.[5] By the
end of the first day, the Israeli forces had thrown the Egyptians into
confusion and would continue to push them back, even as Israeli troops were
committed to battles near the Golan and in the West Bank.
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| Via Wikipedia and Bukvoed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AMX-13-latrun-2.jpg |
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