June 5, 1967
Egypt is on alert, expecting an Israeli attack at dawn, but the Israelis delay and do not strike until 8:15 a.m. (Egyptian time), when most Egyptian pilots ae at breakfast and Egyptian commanders are stuck in traffic.
A commander of Egypt’s Malis air base, Brig. Gen. Tahsin Zaki, says:
I heard the noise of jet planes at the very same moment, and I looked toward the direction of the noise and saw two gray Super Mystere planes. They dropped two bombs at the beginning of the runway. Two additional planes were behind them, and they dropped two bombs in the middle of the runway, and the last two planes dropped two bombs at the end of the runway. After a couple of minutes, the whole runway was bombed. It was a complete surprise. (Michael Oren, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 175)
Within the first hour of the Six-Day War, Israel destroys 204 Egyptian aircraft. An hour after the airstrike, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan gives the order for ground troops to enter Sinai.
By 10 a.m., Egypt is releasing false reports trumpeting success. Although Israel and the United Nations both assure King Hussein that Jordan will not be attacked, he responds to Egypt’s false reports by authorizing Jordanian attacks against Israel. These attacks intensify by 11:15 a.m., and in the early afternoon Israeli planes effectively destroy Jordan’s air force. Heavy fighting on the ground in Jerusalem and the West Bank continues throughout the day.
During the afternoon, Israel also targets the Syrian air force and in 82 sorties destroys two-thirds of Syria’s planes. By the end of the day, 400 Arab aircraft have been destroyed, including nearly 300 Egyptian planes, as well as 13 bases. Israel loses 19 planes during the day.
After six days of fighting, Israel achieves a stunning victory, capturing the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and, perhaps most important, East Jerusalem, including the Old City. This dramatic victory has an enormous impact on Jewish communities around the world. Jewish pride swells, and international donations to Israel surge.
Since 1967, Arab-Israeli negotiations have focused on the territories secured during the Six-Day War.
