Israel attacked Egypt and Syria, thus Israel was the aggressor.
Actually, when Nassar forced the withdrawal of UN observers from the demilitarized zone in Sinai, and blockaded the Straits of Tiran, an act of war was committed against Israel.
Anytime a nation blockades a nations only port in a body of water, it is an act of war. All Israel did was initiate a ground war that Nasser had already decided to initiate on his own.. This was indicated by the mobilization of the Egyptian army in concert with the blockade.
And Nasser outright stated his intentions on May 27th, 1967:
On 22 May President Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping.
Five days later he declared: "Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want to fight."
news.bbc.co.uk
Jordan also opted to join with Nasser to conquer Israel, regardless of whether you want to believe that reality..
But hey... don't believe me Thomas.. Believe King Hussein's own biographical website.
kinghussein.gov.jo
Responding to a fedayeen raid, on November 13, 1966, Israel launched a major attack on the West Bank border village of Samu, rounding up villagers and destroying their houses. A Jordanian armored column hastened to repel the attack, but was overwhelmingly defeated by the Israelis’ superior firepower. Instead of serving as an alarm warning of the dangers of uncoordinated military raids, the tragedy gave further grist to the opponents of the Hashemite Kingdom, who argued that the regime was responsible for what had happened at Samu. Radio broadcasts from Egypt, Syria and Iraq prompted rioting in major Jordanian cities.
By the spring of 1967, the situation had become extremely intense. On May 16, Nasser shocked the world by asking the United Nations to withdraw its forces from Sinai. To the surprise of many, his request was honored two days later. Moreover, the Egyptian president closed the Straits of Tiran on May 22.
Sensing that war was now likely, King Hussein aligned Jordan firmly with Egypt, suggesting an Egyptian-Jordanian Mutual Defense Treaty. Nasser immediately accepted the idea, and the treaty was signed on May 30. The treaty stipulated that Jordan’s forces were to be placed under the command of Egyptian General Abdul Moneim Riad. Iraq also signed the pact, while the Syrians denounced it and refused to sign.
The outbidding and rivalry of radical Arab parties allowed Israel to launch a surprise attack on June 5, 1967, virtually eliminating the Egyptian air force in a single blow.14 At that point, the outcome of the war was decided. In response to the Israeli attack, Jordanian forces launched an offensive into Israel, but were soon driven back as the Israeli forces counterattacked into the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem. After destroying the Egyptian air force, Israel had complete control of the skies, raining down deadly napalm bombs on the defenseless Arab forces. After a spirited defense of Arab East Jerusalem, the outnumbered and outgunned Jordanian army was forced to retreat to preserve the East Bank heartland against the Zionist expansion. When the final UN cease-fire was imposed on June 11, Israel stood in possession of a wide swath of Arab land, including the Egyptian Sinai, Syria’s Golan Heights, and, most significantly, what remained of Arab Palestine—the West Bank, including Arab East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
Of the states participating in the conflict, Jordan paid by far the heaviest price. As a result of the war, more than 300,000 Palestinian Arabs became refugees and fled to Jordan. For many of them, this was the second uprooting in less than two decades, having been driven from their original homes in 1948. Jordan’s economy was also devastated. About 70% of Jordan’s agricultural land was located in the West Bank, which produced 60 to 65% of its fruits and vegetables. Half of the Kingdom’s industrial establishments were located in the West Bank, while the loss of Jerusalem and other religious sites devastated the tourism industry. Altogether, areas now occupied by Israel had accounted for approximately 38% of Jordan’s gross national product.
So there Thomas... We have an admission that Jordan was permitting Fedeyeen to conduct raids against Israel despite their reponsibility and obligation to preserve the sanctity and security of their frontier.
And we also have a tacit admission that Jordan acknowleged the danger in launching uncoordinated raids against Israel, in essence admitting that they permitted these raids to be conducted with little hindrance.
We also see that AFTER Nasser forced the removal of UN forces from the Sinai, and blockaded Israel's only port on the Red Sea, Hussein STILL threw in his lot with Egypt to come to her defense should Israel respond to this act of war and violation of the 1956 UN ceasefire..
And on top of that, Hussein did so DESPITE being begged by the Israeli Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol, not to get involved in this dispute between Israel and Egypt. Hussein also ignored the advice of his generals as well.. Furthermore, Jordan permitted Iraqi troops to enter his country in order to attack Israel.
And then you can read about Eshkol's efforts and recommendations to make peace with Jordan as early as one month after the end of the war:
research.haifa.ac.il
But let's ALSO take a look at how Hussein's bio discusses the grievous economic losses suffered by Jordan. They present the loss of the West Bank as being a loss to Jordan when, in fact, Jordan was illegally occupying the territory itself. 38% of Jordan's economic production came from the West Bank and he HEAVILY relied upon that annex territory to sustain his economy and tax base.
But did anyone complain about how Jordan was defying the UN partition? Did the UN issue a resolution demanding that Jordan withdraw from the Palestinian partition??
Not that I can find..
Hawk |
