The Israeli Military and the Origins of the 1967 War: Government, Armed Forces and Defence Policy 1963-67

353 Pages·2006·7.65 MB·English

by  Ami Gluska

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The Israeli Military and the
Origins of the 1967 War
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u This new book examines the relationship between the Israeli armed forces,
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u the government and the origins of the 1967 war. It analyses the effect of
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9 the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Israel’s defence policy between 1963
2 and 1967, against the backdrop of developments in the Middle East, and
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2 Israeli decision-making immediately preceding the Six Day War in June
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5 1967. A watershed event in the Arab–Israeli conflict, the war has had a
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t profound effect on the development of the Palestinian problem and the
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] character of Israel over the past four decades.
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r Making extensive use of original documents, including protocols of
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e meetings of the general staff and the government, discussions between the
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T Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and the Chief of Staff, as well as testi-
E monies by IDF generals, this volume sheds new light on the dramatic
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tension between the army and the Israeli government in the weeks preced-
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I ing the conflict and the army’s intervention in diplomatic initiatives. It also
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F discloses the steps taken by the US Administration and its fluctuating pol-
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I icies during the crisis: from firm opposition to a pre-emptive Israeli strike,
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y to support for such an operation.
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d This book will be of great interest to students of Middle Eastern poli-
e tics, strategic studies, Israeli politics and military history in general.
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nl Ami Gluska lectures in history and political science at the Hebrew Univer-
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sity of Jerusalem and the Ashkelon Academic College. In 2005 he won the
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D Yitzhak Sadeh prize for his book Eshkol, Give the Order! of which the
present book is a translation. Formerly, he served in the IDF and held a
number of senior positions in the ministries of defence and public security.
Middle eastern military studies
Series Editors: Barry Rubin
Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Israel
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u The Israeli Military and the Origins of the 1967 War
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u Government, armed forces and defence policy 1963–1967
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9 Ami Gluska
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The Israeli Military and
the Origins of the 1967
War
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g defence policy 1963–1967
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e Ami Gluska
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s First published 2007
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g by Routledge
u 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
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9 Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
2 by Routledge
2 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
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5 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
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t This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.
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] “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
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r collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
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e © 2007 Ami Gluska
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T All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
E reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
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B including photocopying and recording, or in any information
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F the publishers.
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I British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
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y A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
b Library
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e Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
d A catalog record for this book has been requested
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nl ISBN0-203-96596-5 Mastere-bookISBN
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ISBN10: 0–415–39245–4 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–203–96596–5 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–39245–7 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–96596–2 (ebk)
For my wife Shuli and our children Einat, Ittai and Orit
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u ‘The Israeli army is called a “defense force” but it is not a defensive
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u army.... The Sinai campaign (1956), the reprisal acts and the raids
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across the border were purely offensive operations, and were of decisive
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2 value.... Not only the actions which were actually carried out but also
2 the IDF’s prevailing conception is offensive.... The most significant
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: technical expression of the new approach ... is the absence of fortifica-
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0 tions and fencing along the country’s borders. Although the Govern-
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a ment’s policy is, politically speaking, essentially defensive – those
e] responsible for the armed forces have refrained from adopting defensive
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nt measures. Their response to Arab provocation has been counter-attacks,
e raids on enemy bases, transferring the war to the Arab countries ... to
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T put it simply: the IDF is a characteristically offensive army as regards
E theory, planning and execution, in body and spirit.’
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Major-General Moshe Dayan, April 1967
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Contents
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u List of illustrations ix
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u Preface xii
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9 Acknowledgements xviii
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5: Introduction 1
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] 1 Personnel changes in the defence establishment 14
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e 2 Basic security issues 22
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3 Escalation – Stage 1: from skirmishes in the
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B demilitarized zones to aerial sorties 40
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8 Israel–Jordan: the Israeli dilemma, the Jordanian
dilemma 84
9 The clash with Syria approaches 92
10 Conflagration 98
11 The trigger 108
viii Contents
12 The start of the crisis 121
13 The era of diplomacy 131
14 The revision of Intelligence evaluations and the shift
to offensive planning 142
15 Casus belli 152
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1 16 The army pressures the government 160
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u 17 The politicians’ quandary 173
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9 18 The height of the diplomatic campaign – and the
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2 outcome 180
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n the military aspect 204
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21 The strategic turning point: the Egypt–Jordan
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N defence pact 216
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F 22 The decisive meeting in the Pit: the Ministerial
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I Committee versus the General Staff 223
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o Afterword 257
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Appendix: what happened to Yitzhak Rabin? 262
Biographical notes 269
Notes 272
Select English bibliography 313
Index 317
Illustrations
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u Plates
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A 1 Ben-Gurion takes his leave of the Ministry of Defence
9 2 Zvi Zur welcoming the new CO of the UN Truce
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2 SupervisionOrganization, Norwegian General Odd Bull
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0 IDF from Zvi Zur to Yitzhak Rabin
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a 4 Eshkol presents Deputy Defence Minister Shimon Peres to President
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nt 5 The Eshkol government with President Shazar after taking the oath
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C ofoffice in the Knesset
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N 7 Eshkol and CO Northern Command David Elazar examining the
B damage by Syrian shelling of Kibbutz Gadot
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L 8 Observers from the UNEF dismantling the Erez border point
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[ 10 Eshkol addressing the Knesset before the blocking of the Tiran Straits
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d 12 Barlev, Sharon and Gavish during the ‘waiting period’
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Maps
1 Israel and its neighbours – pre-1967 borders xi
2 The demilitarized zones along Israel–Syria border 41
3 The Arab diversion plan 50
Tables
1 Composition of the Israeli government – 1967 11
2 Composition of the IDF General Staff – 1967 12