The victory in the Six Day War, 1967 (29 pics + text) Bashny.Net

28 Iyar (May 22) Israel celebrates the 42nd anniversary of the victory in the Six Day War. This war, which ended in total defeat of the armies of seven Arab countries which supported and armed the Soviet Union, was a turning point in the history of the State of Israel and had a significant impact on the course of events in the world over the next decades




The Six Day War of 1967. Israeli tankers

Exploration Golani brigade

Events preceding the war, developed rapidly. Arab countries have believed in his vast numerical superiority and received arms from the Soviet Union in the tens of billions of dollars in earnest hope with the support of the USSR to destroy the Jewish state. USSR openly provoke the Arabs to unleash aggression against Israel, hoping thus to establish its hegemony over the strategically important Middle East.

The turning point on the way to the Six Day War took place on May 11, 1967. when Russian representatives handed over to the Egyptians fabricated in Moscow about the alleged forgery Israel preparing large-scale war. In Russian fabricated "document" to assert that IDF troops concentrated on the northern border to overthrow the ruling regime in Syria.

The Israeli government immediately denied this provocative fake proposing to the Soviet ambassador in Israel personally verify the absence of Israeli troops on the Syrian border. However, the Soviet ambassador D. Chuvakin rejected the proposal.

Eugene Pyrlin, in those days the head of the Egyptian department of the Soviet Foreign Ministry, later explained the Soviet action: "We then thought that even if our side - the Egyptians - not win the war will give us the political benefits, because the Egyptians demonstrate their ability to fight with our weapons and with our military and political support. "

Arabs used a fake Russian as the basis for the transfer of Egyptian troops in the Sinai Peninsula, which gave Egypt a direct access to the Israeli border, and, last but not least - to the Straits of Tiran, leading to the Israeli port of Eilat.

This was a flagrant violation of UN resolutions, announce the Sinai Peninsula demilitarized zone in which were placed only units of UN forces.
Egypt demanded the withdrawal of UN forces from the Sinai, which was immediately executed under Soviet pressure on the UN Security Council: UN Secretary-General U Thant suddenly ordered to remove UN forces from Sinai, thus opening the way to the Arab armies to the borders of Israel.

In fact, Russian strongly encouraged Arabs to unleash a "hot" war against Israel.

May 14 columns of the Egyptian infantry and armored vehicles crossed the Suez Canal and occupied the Sinai Peninsula, blocking the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships. This was an unprovoked act of war announcements Israel.

The UN has begun feverish consultations, but the Russian representative Nikolai Fedorenko opposed any proposal to lift the blockade. His Canadian and Danish colleagues directly stated Mr. Fedorenko: "There is an unpleasant sensation that the Soviet Union is a game that allows escalation of the crisis in order to force Israel to act." Soviet Ambassador to Israel Chuvakin in conversations with colleagues predicted the sad fate that awaits the Jewish state.

May 17 followed by a new act of aggression - 2 Russian MiG Egyptian identification marks flew over Israeli territory - from the east (from Jordan) to the west. Their flight was just over the Israeli nuclear center in Dimona.

Spy satellites, as well as conventional intelligence supplied USSR accurate data about the object in Dimona. In light of the fact that the intelligence cooperation between the USSR and Egypt in those years was very close, it is obvious that the Soviet Union gave Egypt the information about the Israeli reactor.

In Moscow, frantically looking for a way to destroy the Israeli nuclear center -perfect "excessive", according to the head of the Soviet rukovodstva.Byvshy Middle East department of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador at Large Oleg Grinevskii in an interview, said: "Our intelligence back in the mid 60s possessed reliable information on Israeli nuclear capabilities. There is information that one of the reasons for the outbreak of the Six Day War, Egypt was to strike Israel before this country will be able to use nuclear weapons. Militarily, Egypt Dimona was listed as one of the main objectives ».

May 22 Nasser closed to Israeli shipping the Strait of Tiran in the Red Sea, that Israel is a "casus belli».

May 26, Egyptian President said "if war breaks out, it will be total, and its aim is the destruction of Israel».

Arabs and Russian are already anticipating his victory and massacre Israelis. The block led by Egypt, which stood for the Soviet Union, one after another joined Arab countries send their troops to fight with Israel, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Morocco. May 30 to this unit joined Jordan.

Arab countries have deployed along Israel's borders, hundreds of thousands of well-equipped soldiers, 700 combat aircraft and about 2,000 tanks.

USSR concentrated in the Mediterranean Sea over 30 surface ships and 10 submarines, including nuclear. At each of the more than 30 Soviet ships were formed assault groups, which according to the plans of the Soviet command had landed on the coast of Israel ...

Now Israel was surrounded on all sides by the armies of militant Arab countries and the Soviet Union, ready to strike at the Jewish state.

In Israel, clearly aware of the impending threat. Three-front war became a reality. Only in one of Tel Aviv expected to 10,000 victims of the bombing, under the cemetery were consecrated city squares and parks.

May 23 in the country began a general mobilization: the army was mobilized about 220 thousand people, organized into 21 brigade - 5 armored, mechanized 4, 3 airborne infantry and 9.



Israeli paratroopers. 1967.



Meeting of the General Staff Special Forces officers



Reservists



Pilots

IDF included 275 thousand. People, about 1,000 tanks, 450 aircraft and 26 warships.

Were created following the shock group of forces: the Sinai area (Southern Front) - 8 teams, 600 tanks and 220 combat aircraft, personnel - 70 thousand. Pers .;
Damascene direction (North Front) - 5 brigades, about 100 tanks, 330 artillery pieces, 70 combat aircraft, personnel - about 50 thousand. pers .;
Amman area (Central Front) - 7 teams, 220 tanks and self-propelled guns, 400 artillery pieces, 25 combat aircraft, 35 thousand. people. personnel.



Officers discuss intelligence

In the evening on June 1 post Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan was appointed. The purpose of the military general meant that Israel is ready for all-out war.



Defense Minister Moshe Dayan



Chief of Staff, General Yitzhak Rabin



Air Force Commander Gen. Mordechai Hod (right)

June 3, 1967 the Israeli Cabinet decided to start the war.

The Six-Day War began June 5, 1967. Israel launched a preemptive strike against the Arab countries-partners in the aggression.

At 07.45, the Israeli Air Force attacked on all fronts. Their plan is to capture the absolute superiority in the air - in strikes against air bases and destroy all enemy combat aircraft on the ground. Destruction of enemy air force fully unleashes the GOC Army Headquarters, ready to inflict a mortal blow to many times the quantity of the enemy ground forces.



Israeli planes attacked enemy ground forces

The Israeli Air Force used a completely new tactical decisions, which became a surprise to the enemy. Instead of flying straight at goal, the first wave of Israeli planes flew into the open sea, turned around and at low altitude over the crests of the waves came from the west - not from the direction from which the Egyptians waited for the attack.



After the first blow, which was a complete surprise to the Arabs because of their radar and communications were blinded, Israeli planes returned to airfields to refuel and re-suspension arms and went into battle. Less than two days later, having rather a small number of aircraft, the Israeli Air Force carried out about 1,100 sorties, many pilots made 8 - 10 sorties a day.



Destroying 300 of 320 Egyptian planes, the Israelis immediately proceeded to defeat other Arab States Air Force. After crushing blows Force Iraq, Jordan and Syria have also been destroyed. In aerial combat, Israeli pilots shot down more enemy aircraft sixty.





Colonel-paratrooper Rafael Eitan (in the future beg. Of Staff) and General Israel Tal tanker (future creator of the tank "Merkava»)

Morning of June 5 ships of the Israeli navy fired demonstrative attacks Alexandria and Port Said. Attack Israeli warships, complementing continuous air strikes, achieved one important goal: the shelling was prevented Tel Aviv from the sea missiles with a range of 35 miles, equipped with a 1000-pound warheads. These missiles were equipped with 18 Russian missile boats passed the USSR Egypt. The next morning, June 6, the Arabs, in fear of an Israeli strike, hastily withdrawn its fleet from Port Said to Alexandria, and Tel Aviv was out of reach of missiles.



After the capture of the air, the IDF launched a ground operation. The Six Day War of 1967 was the real triumph of Israeli armored troops.
For the first time, Israeli armored units operate simultaneously on three fronts. They were opposed by vastly superior forces of the seven Arab states, but it did not save the Arabs from total defeat.







On the southern front blow was struck by three armored divisions generals Tal, Sharon and Yoffe. In the offensive, dubbed "The march through the Sinai," Israeli armored units, interacting with the aircraft, motorized infantry and paratroopers made a lightning break the enemy's defenses and marched across the desert, surrounded by destroying groups of Arabs. Parachute Brigade first broke into the city of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea. The Suez Canal paratroopers came first, ahead of the tank.



On the northern front landing brigade stormed the enemy's fortifications on Mount Hermon and ensured the capture of the Golan Heights. By rugged mountain trails advancing 36 Panzer General Peled, that after three days of fierce fighting in the suburbs of Damascus came out.





On the eastern front, heavy fighting took place over east Jerusalem. Marines under the command of Colonel Mota Gur had to overcome fierce resistance from enemy melee went for every house.



Fight in Jerusalem

The situation is complicated by the ban on the use of the command in the battle of heavy machinery, so as not to cause damage to religious sites in Jerusalem. Finally, June 7, blue and white flag with the Star of David was hoisted over the Temple Mount and Colonel Hur said on the radio the words included in the history of Israel: "The Temple Mount - in our hands! I repeat, we took the Temple Mount! I stand near the Dome of the Rock, at the very walls of the temple! ».



Paratroopers at the Western Wall of the Temple

By 12 June 1967. active phase of the fighting has been completed. IDF won a landslide victory over the forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Israeli forces captured the entire Sinai Peninsula (with access to the east coast of the Suez Canal) and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem from Jordan sector and the Golan Heights from Syria. Under Israeli control was in the territory of 70 thousand square meters. km with a population of over 1 million people.



Generals Dayan, Rabin, and Zeevi (Gandhi) in the liberated Old City of Jerusalem

Arab losses for 6 days of fighting, according to the British Institute of Strategic Studies, totaled 70 thousand. People. killed, wounded and prisoners, 1,200 tanks (mostly Russian production)

Arabs were catastrophic loss. Of the available 935 tanks in the Sinai to the outbreak of hostilities Egypt lost more than 820: 291 T-54, T-82 55 251 T-34-85, 72 IS-3M, 51 SU-100, 29, PT-76, and about 50 "Sherman" and M4 / FL10., more than 2,500 armored personnel carriers and trucks, over 1,000 artillery pieces.

100 tanks were captured in full working order and with unspent ammunition and about 200 - with minor injuries.

The loss of the Air Force of the Arab countries amounted to more than 400 combat aircraft:
MIG-21 - 140, MIG-19 - 20, MiG-15/17 - 110, Tu-16 - 34, IL-28 - 29, Su-7 - 10, AN-12 - 8, IL-14 - 24, MI-4 - 4 MI-6 - 8, Hunter -30



About 90% of the military equipment of the enemy, often quite serviceable, all stocks of ammunition, fuel, equipment, generously comes USSR Arabs - all went to Israel as trophies.





Israel lost 679 men killed, 61 tanks, 48 ​​aircraft.

The Six Day War was not a random impromptu implemented due to the current external threats to the Jewish state. Preparation and planning a grand military operation, implemented during the Six-Day War, was carried out by the General Staff of the IDF over the years.
At the threshold of war, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Haim Barley with a soldier's directness expressed his opinion on the progress of military operations: "We ... you Boehm them (Arabs and Russian) strongly, quickly and elegantly." Forecast General was fully realized.

"Father," Planning the Six Day War was the Chief of Operations of the General Staff in the 50th years. Major-General Yuval Ne'eman, man, no doubt, a genius - along with a brilliant military career, he is a world-renowned theoretical physicist whose research in elementary particle physics earned him a number of prestigious awards and was nearly brought him the Nobel Prize in physics. (Physicist Yuval Ne'eman opened the omega-minus particle, but the Nobel committee rejected his candidacy, apparently because of his rank of general)

Commander of the Israeli Air Force General Mordechai Hod said then: "Sixteen years of planning reflected in these exciting eighty hours. We lived it up, we went to bed and eating, thinking about it. Finally, we made it ».

Israel's victory in the Six-Day War in the years ahead predetermined course of events in the world and in the Middle East, finally destroyed the hopes of the Arabs and their Russian allies to destroy the Jewish state



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