Officially there have been seven Arab-Israeli Wars, the first being the Israeli War of Independence in 1948 and the latest being the Second Persian Gulf War in 1991. However, the Six-Day War, as it is called, in 1967, saw Israel expand its territory in the Middle East after attacked Egypt, Jordan, and Syria simultaneously on July 5, 1967. Nonetheless, Israel until this attack, had been trying to engage in a dialogue of peace with its Arab neighbors. Israeli Foreign Minister Golda Meir threw down the gauntlet of peace, challenging Arab leaders to meet with Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in negotiations aimed at peaceful resolution. Yet, peace would not come to this troubled region of the area, for backed by Soviet forces and in dominant control of oil reserves, the Arabs attacked Israeli villages and farms regularly during the first half of the 1960s. Adding to this affront to Israel were the bellicose and genocidal rantings of Syria’s Nasser, who not only said Meir’s challenge for peace was a bluff to fool the rest of the world, but also that nothing less than the destruction of the State of Israel would satisfy the Arab community. The following words are typical of many of his and other Arab leaders’ verbal attacks on the peace and safety of Israel and the Israeli people:
As of today, there no longer exists an international emergency force to protect Israel. We shall exercise patience no more. We shall not complain any more to the UN about Israel. The sole method we shall apply against Israel is total war, which will result in the extermination of Zionist existence. Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want to fight. We will not accept any…coexistence with Israel…Today Israel…The war with Israel is in effect since 1948.
These comments were made after Nasser ordered the UN Emergency Force out of the Sinai. This analysis will explore the issues between Israel and the Arab...