The 1967 war was a surprise attack by Israel on Arab neighbors ... and Israel's gains in 1967 are still not recognized by the international community.
HockeyDad wrote:
Sure, the Israelis struck Egypt first. By surprise. But, that in and of itself does not make doing so wrong. Neither does firing the first round of the war. From a pro-Israel perspective, attacking Egypt was justified because Egypt had begun amassing troops on the Israel Egyptian border, which was interpreted as a major threat, which justified attacking first.
As to the West Bank and the capture of the Temple Mount and ancient Jerusalem. That was not part of the original plan. However, from a pro-Israel perspective, Jordan, which controlled the West bank at the time, had a security agreement with Egypt which involved reciprocal agreements to defend one another should either find itself at war with Israel. Pro Israel "facts" include that Jordan began sending troops towards the Egyptians to aid them. Jordan also began began shelling parts of Jerusalem and areas close to Tel Aviv. Israel implored Jordan not to get involved, but Jordan refused replying to the effect that: "the die was already cast" by then and ramped up on its side.
As to the Golan, the "fact" is that Syria came into the war late, but began its involvement by shelling down from The Heights onto Israeli
kibbutzim (collective farming and communities).
From a pro-Israel perspective, the above version of events/history are considered sufficient reasons for Israel to attack first (as opposed to "starting it"). On the other hand, a pro-Arab perspective would dispute the accuracy of every aspect of the the version above. It would pretty much deny these "facts" and would add different perspectives on the events and "facts" allegedly omitted above.
The bottom line of what I am trying to say here is that not much, if anything, can even be agreed upon regarding the (1967) Six-Day War, which occurred some 40+ years ago. No one really knows what the "honest to god" historical truth is, or is likely even capable of determining it. In my opinion, people make up their mind about which side they support and then believe only those sets of "facts" that justify whatever they have already made their mind up about.
The bottom line is that Israel will never voluntarily give up control of The Temple Mount or Western Wall and Arabs will never give up control of the Dome of the Rock (which Jews and Christians have a claim to as well. I believe that this is the true essence to the problem, which will never be resolved before there is another war. Thus, I truly and sadly believe that there will NEVER be a lasting peace because neither side can forget about the past and put it behind themselves.
