Essay for IB History HL paper 3 topic "Africa and the Middle East" -- looking at the significance of the Six Day War (1967 War) between Israel and the Arab states. Covers topics like UN Resolution 242, foreign policy, migration and international relations.
Israel’s rapid six-day victory in the 1967 War marked significant changes for relations in the
Middle East, as the power dynamic between Israel and the neighbouring Arab states had been
altered after several decades of tension. World opinion on the conflict transformed, now
recognising Israel as a major power rather than viewing it as vulnerable. The United Nations
Security Council Resolution 242 passed after the war, which remains the basis for peace in
the region today, also compounded the worsening conditions for Palestinians affected by the
outcome of the war.
The 1967 War caused significant changes for Israel’s foreign relations and policies. Firstly,
Israeli territories had increased roughly fourfold, now including the Gaza Strip, Golan
Heights, the West Bank, the Sinai Desert, and East Jerusalem. Along with its swift and
decisive victory, this “tilted the balance of Middle East power firmly in an Israeli direction.”
(Fraser) Israel was no longer considered vulnerable or weak, and its influence in the region
was evident to other states, making it the local superpower. The newly gained territories
caused discord with the neighbouring Arab states from which the land had been seized. The
UN Resolution 242 passed in November 1967 after the war decreed that Israel withdraw from
“territories occupied in the recent conflict” but did not specify all territories. The French
translation of the document, however, specified “the territories” due to the need for articles in
French, which might have contributed to more confusion had the Arab states quoted this
version. Although the 1967 War eventually led to other conflicts like the War of Attrition and
the Intifada, Chief of Staff Rabin did remark that it had convinced Arabs that Israel “could
never be eliminated by force of arms,” suggesting that the only solution was to make peace.
Prime Minister Levi Eshkol also said that the war could have, “possibly, for the first time,
stirred in the Middle East the beginnings of a process leading to peace.” This, however, did
not occur due to the outbreak of conflicts in response to the seized territories, and therefore in
response to the 1967 War itself.
The outcome of the war also caused discord within Israel itself and its government. Israel’s
victory led to retaliatory persecution of Jews in Arab states like Egypt, Iraq and Syria,
causing a mass influx of Sephardi Jews and altering the demography of Israel. These
newcomers tended to be more hostile towards Arabs and therefore voted for the Gahal and
later the Likud party, ensuring that the political moderates in the Labour Party such as Eshkol
were losing ground and steering foreign policy to be more hostile. The newly acquired
territories also caused significant disagreement within the Israeli government: many, like
Foreign Minister Abba Eban were in favour of trading the territories in exchange for peace,
while those such as Major General Ariel Sharon were against the concession of land.
Ultimately, Israel chose to keep the territories, largely due to the changing nature of Israeli
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