Few events in modern history were as dramatic as the Six Day War of June

1967, the war between Israel and four Arab nations, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq.

Among other things, it changed the nature of the Middle East,

and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

transferred control of the West Bank

from Jordan to Israel and unleashed Islamic extremism.

The origins of the war were complex.

They began with the rise of pan-Arabism which sought to unite the countries Syria, Iraq, and Jordan created by the Europeans after

World War I and into a single Arab state. The question was, who would lead that state? In their efforts to claim that role Arab rulers tried to outdo

one another and attacking Israel. Foremost among them was Gamal Abdul Nasser, the charismatic leader of the most powerful Arab country, Egypt.

To establish his leadership on May 16, 1967,

Nasser evicted the UN peacekeepers who served as a buffer between Israel and Egypt in the sign identity. N. his army into the Sinai and threatened to drive the Jews into the sea.

He blockaded the straits of Tehran at the entrance to the Red Sea, choking off Israel's

vital southern port of a lot.

He made a military alliance with Syria and Iraq. He placed the Jordanian army under Egyptian command.

By the first week of June 1967, Israel was surrounded.

On its southern border, the Army of Egypt. On its eastern border, the army of Egypt, on its eastern border the armies of Jordan and Iraq,

on its northern border, the army of Syria, and on its western border, the Mediterranean Sea.

And to make matters worse, Israel faced these threats

virtually alone. It had a tenuous relationship with Europe and friendly ties with the United

States, but not a strategic alliance. The Israeli Defense Forces, the IDF,

fought with French arms, not American arms. And of course the Soviets were antagonistic, having

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