1967-1973

## **Six Days War**

During April and May 1967, tensions resumed between Israel and its neighbors. Following threats from Egypt, Syria and Jordan, the expulsion of UN forces from the Gaza Strip, and the closure of The Tiran Islands of Egypt to Israeli shipping, which was a "cause for war" (Casus Beli), Israel began recruiting reserves and preparing for war. public pressure on Eshkol lead him to give up his defense portfolio and transfer it to Moshe Dayan.

On June 1, a National Unity government was formed: Prime Minister and Defense Minister Levi Eshkol handed over the defense portfolio to Moshe Dayan, while Menachem Begin (the opposition leader) and Yosef Sapir of Gahal were appointed ministers without portfolio.

On June 5, In the Height of Mass Hysteria and Panic over an Upcoming War, Israel launched a pre-emptive strike against the armies of the Arab states, which developed into the Six Days War. The war - which lasted six days - was a great victory for the State of Israel, which occupied the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, thus tripling the territory under its control. Accordingly, the new boundaries of control were determined - the purple line.

During the war, Israel liberated the Old City of Jerusalem from the Jordanians, including the holiest places for Judaism: the Temple Mount and the Western Wall, an exciting moment documented in a photograph of the paratroopers at the Western Wall. About 780 Israelis lost their lives in the war, about 2,590 were wounded and 15 soldiers were taken prisoners. The Arabs suffered heavy casualties, about 451 fighter jets were destroyed (most of them in Operation Focus) and more than 21,500 soldiers were killed.

Beginning in late 1968, following Egyptian artillery and commando attacks on IDF soldiers, Israel built the Bar-Lev line, a line of outposts along the Suez Canal, on which the Combat Engineering Corps received the Israeli Defense Forces Award. After the Six Day War, a long confrontation took place on the border with Egypt known as the War of Attrition, which ended in August 1970, when the two parties agreed on a ceasefire.

In 1967, various groups of religious Zionists began to try to settle Judea and Samaria. These attempts at first encountered opposition from the government and various international elements, but over time reached compromises, which led to the establishment of the first settlements. After the rise of the Likud, a large number of settlements were established.

In January 1968, the Labor Party was formed from a union of Mapai, Ahdut HaAvodah and Rafi. That month the submarine Dakar sank and all 69 crew members perished. In 1968, "Israeli television" was founded. The establishment of "Israeli television" and the beginning of broadcasting were originally planned for the 1970s but were brought forward to prevent neighboring Arab states from seizing the channels and also out of a belief by the Israeli leadership that through television it would be possible to show neighboring states the beautiful face of the state.

In March 1968, the IDF carried out the Karameh operation, a raid on the village of Karameh in Jordan, where Fatah was headquartered. In the same year, there were a number of terrorist attacks that were also carried out against Israeli targets abroad. In response, the IDF carried out Operation Gift, an operation at Beirut Airport in which 14 civilian planes of Arab airlines were blown up.

On February 26th, 1969, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol passed away. Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Alon replaced him as acting prime minister for 19 days, until Golda Meir was appointed.

In the early 1970s, Palestinian terrorist organizations, led by the PLO, began operating a wave of terrorism against Israel and against Jewish targets abroad, mainly in Europe. In February 1970, terrorists attacked an El Al plane on Flight 435 at Munich Airport. In May, a bus carrying children from Kibbutz Avivim was attacked and 12 people were killed. The peak of the wave of terrorism was in 1972, during which a number of terrorist attacks were carried out, the most prominent of which were the hijacking of a Sabana plane, the massacre at Lod Airport and the massacre of athletes at the Munich Olympics. Israel responded to the murder of the athletes in Operation Wrath of God, in which agents of the Mossad eliminated most of the terrorists responsible for the massacre.

In 1971, the Black Panthers movement was established, the movement grew against the background of the feeling of discrimination againt Mizrahi Jews and residents of distressed neighborhoods who claimed that immigrants from the Soviet Union received preferential treatment. After a public struggle and stormy demonstrations, a public committee was set up to find a solution to their plight and ethnic rift in Israel. The conclusions of the examination committee revealed that indeed many Communities were discriminated against and as a result, the budgets of the ministries that dealt with social affairs were significantly increased.

## **Yom Kippur War**

On Yom Kippur, October 6, 1973, a Day in which the Jews Fast and go to Synagogues, the armies of Egypt and Syria surprised Israel with a Suprise Attack, which lead to the Yom Kippur War, in order to regain the territories they lost in the Six Days War. The IDF suffered a blow at the beginning of the war, but withdrew from the war with its upper hand, and on October 24, 1973, with the UN declaration of a ceasefire, Damascus and Cairo were within range of the Israeli artillery. By the end of the fighting, the IDF had lost about 2,300 Soldiers, had more than 7,000 wounded, 314 captured and dozens missing.

In the streets of Israel, a great rift broke out in the Israeli public and a lack of trust in the decision-makers in the country, due to the sacrifice of the soldiers in vain as a result of the mistakes of the commanders and ministers, even during the first days of the war. On November 18th, the Israeli government decided to establish a state commission of inquiry into the events leading up to the war and the first days of the war, the Agranat Commission.

Due to the public anger, the Israeli Revolution broke out on December 31st, 1973, during the Day of the election.

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