About Jewishness

I've been planning to write this book since the late 1980s, and until about 2000 it was quite easy to find information and personal stories about the "overseas military volunteers" in the 1967 Six Day War on the internet. I should have downloaded that priceless material, because now most of it has been removed, maybe because of the fact that Israel doesn't get a good press internationally.
In my search for information about all the young Jews that went to Israel to fight for Israel, to defend Israel against its enemies, Israeli official sources and media weren't very helpful. Israeli journalists and publishers see themselves as actors within the Zionist movement, not as critical outsiders. When it comes to "security", Israeli journalists, from leftwing to rightwing, close ranks Then it's "us" and "them", the IDF and the "enemy". It’s not that Israeli journalists are following orders, or a written code; it's just that they adore their security forces and wouldn't do anything that would embarrass them.

My personal story of the Six Day War isn't heroic. My friend David and I went to the Zionist Movement in the Johannes Vermeerstraat in Amsterdam in May 1967, to fight for Israel. David could go, but I was too young (15), but we were told that the office in Paris was more lenient, so we went there and we both could go to Israel. We arrived at Lod Airport (now Ben Gurion International Airport) in Tel Aviv, where army buses took as to Beersheba. There we learned how to handle a rifle. On the second day of the war David was killed by enemy fire in the Sinai. He died, 16 years old, for Israel. I was devastated and brought back to Tel Aviv, where an army psychiatrist asked me if I wanted to go to New York or to Paris. I knew Paris quite well, so that's where I went and that's the end of the story. It took me a year before I was able (had the guts) to tell David's parents what happened.

Timeline of the 1967 Six Day War

We listened to the news on the radio every hour, and with every hour the tension increased.

"My Dad, who knew Hebrew, was glued to the radio, though it was almost impossible to hear Israeli radio, I do not know how, but somehow he managed to get through. So we had a clearer picture from the beginning, but still the situation during the first hours and days looked very threatening to Israel, we feared that Soviet Soldiers would be sent to protect their Arab Brothers." (Chava, originally from Lithuania, now living in Israel.)

From the United States to the Soviet Union, Jews were riveted to their television screens and radios, anxious to hear the latest news, involved, on the edge, as if it were their own lives that were at stake.

"Looking back to 1967 when I was 19 years old, I cannot believe how little I understood about Israel's precarious position in the world. To me Israel was just a distant foreign land with many poor Jewish immigrants, and although my father would regularly hand over a ten shilling note to the 'blue box' collector and occasionally my parents would pack up some old clothes 'for Israel', I had not thought of the place as a homeland." (Derek Lewis, London.)

"Memories of the build-up to the Six-Day War are indelibly imprinted in my mind and in my heart. I was in London at the time, and will never forget the growing tension, as every day the TV reported the growing animosity and aggressive threats of Israel's neighbours to "push the Jews into the sea", the moving of their troops nearer Israel's borders, and then Egypt's blockade of the Straits of Tiran. When the UK Foreign Secretary, Douglas Home, was asked on TV whether the UK would go to Israel's aid, in view of an earlier undertaking to do so, he replied with his stiff upper lip that it would not, adding: "We do not have friends, we have interests".
Every day, another arrow, representing another hostile Arab army, appeared on a map, pointing at Israel, until Israel was totally surrounded by 7 arrows, each representing a hostile army. I felt there was no hope for Israel." (Naomi Benari.)

"I remember very clearly the events leading up to the Six-Day War; at the time I was a teenager living in, of all places, Bangor North Wales. I remember the incremental build up of tension, and the feeling of dread that once again the Jews were facing another catastrophe. The odds seemed insurmountable. One picture that has stuck in mind is the contrast between the seemingly smart disciplined Egyptian soldiers and the seemingly laid back, almost scruffy Israeli soldiers - how deceptive appearances can be." (Ruth Leveson, London.)

"As for myself, I remember too well the events surrounding the Six Day War. I was 17 years old, living in central London with my parents, and every shul (synagogue) in the area had fund raising events. The one that sticks in my memory more than all the others was a fund raiser at St John's Wood, where there was an eminent speaker (don't remember who), and after he finished speaking buckets were going around, and the gentlemen present emptied their pockets and wallets, as did the ladies, and some even removed their jewellery. A fortune in cash was counted from the buckets, and I'm sure a further fortune raised from the sale of the jewellery.This was only one such evening, there were plenty, and remember it so clearly as I was one of the bucket holders." (Barbara.)

March 8th 1965
"We shall not enter Palestine with its soil covered in sand, we shall enter it with its soil saturated in blood" - President of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser

Jan - March 1967
In the first quarter of 1967 there were over 270 border "incidents" causing rising concern in Israel.

Feb 22nd 1967
President Attassi of Syria: “it is the duty of all of us now to move from defensive positions to offensive positions and enter the battle to liberate the usurped land…Everyone must face the test and enter the battle to the end.”

March 3rd 1967
Landmine injures tractorist in Kibbutz Shamir.

March 12th 1967
Explosion on train tracks near Kibbutz Lahav.

March 26th 1967
Two Palestinians killed trying to demolish a water pump near Arad.

Syrian gunners fired from their Golan Heights position on an Israeli tractor farming in the demilitarised zone. Artillery fire was exchanged and the fight escalated. Israel sent airplanes against the Syrian gun positions and several Syrian villages. The Syrians sent up MiG jets and an all-out dogfight ensued – Israel downed six Syrian MiG 21 fighters and chased the remainder all the way back to Damascus.

Confidential telegram to UK Foreign Office, sent 10th April, relating to 7th April exchange of fire.
"...the ground being tilled by the Israelis on 7 April had been in dispute certainly since 1961 and probably before. The Israelis had cultivated the land from time to time but cultivation had depended on the policy of the Syrian local commander at any time. In this case the Israel reaction to the Syrian fire was almost instantaneous and noone was in any doubt that the Israelis expected Syrian fire and as in the Dan incident were fully prepared to sieze the opportunity to teach Syria a lesson..."

April 8th 1967
Syria’s information minister Mahmoud Zubi: “(this battle will be)…followed by more severe battles until Palestine is liberated and the Zionist presence ended.”

May 7th 1967
Syria shells Israeli village of Ein Gev in Israel - The New York Times

May 12th 1967
"In view of the fourteen incidents of sabotage and infiltration perpetrated in the past month alone, Israel may have no other choice but to adopt suitable countermeasures against the focal points of sabotage. Israel will continue to take action to prevent any and all attempts to perpetrate sabotage within her territory. There will be no immunity for any state which aids or abets such acts." - PM Levi Eshkol speech

May 13th 1967
Anwar Sadat arrives back from Moscow with the information he gives to Nasser that Israel is massing 10-12 brigades in preparation for an attack on Syria, supposedly to take place May 17. He was told to expect "an Israeli invasion of Syria immediately after Independence Day, with the aim of overthrowing the Damascus regime." The information is false, as were several similar previous Soviet warnings.
[NOTE: Israel was very aware that Russia was fomenting problems, not only by misinformation, but by active support for terrorism emanating from Syria.]

May 14th 1967
Israel learns that Egyptian troops have been put on alert and begun reinforcing units in the Sinai “in impressive proportions and with unusual openness, artillery-towing trucks filled with combat-equipped soldiers rolling through Cairo’s streets in broad daylight." …Foreign correspondents placed the size of the unit at a full army division.
Egyptian Battle Order No. 1 issued: "...Raising the level of preparedness to full alert for war, beginning 14.30, 14 May 1967;" -Field Marshal Abd al-Hakim Amer.

May 15th 1967
Israel’s Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and members of the Cabinet responded by ordering some regular armoured units to reinforce the Sinai front and drafted a message to ensure Egypt understood that Israel was responding to Egyptian actions and not massing troops on its own initiative: “Israel wants to make it clear to the government of Egypt that it has no aggressive intentions whatsoever against any Arab state at all”

May 16th 1967
Egypt moves it forces eastward across the Sinai desert towards the Israeli border.
Nasser demands withdrawal of 3,400 man UN Emergency Force: Major General Indar Jit Rikhye, commander of United Nations Emergency Force summoned to the Office of the UAR Liaison Staff in Gaza to be handed this message from General Mahmoud Fawzi, chief of staff of the Egyptian Army:
Commander UNEF (Gaza)To your information, I gave my instructions to all UAR forces to be ready for action against Israel the moment it might carry out any aggressive action against any Arab country. Due to these instructions our troops are already concentrated in Sinai on our eastern border. For the sake of the complete security of all UN troops…I request that you issue your orders to withdraw all troops immediately. [NOTE: General Rikhye was not authorised to undertake any such action.]
By this time Egypt had added a further 30,000 troops to the 30-35 thousand permanently stationed on the peninsula, plus 200 tanks, and it was continuing to pour in more troops all the time.
"The existence of Israel has continued too long. We welcome the Israeli aggression. We welcome the battle we have long awaited. The peak hour has come. The battle has come in which we shall destroy Israel." - Cairo Radio

On learning of Egypt’s demands of UNEF a series of emergency meetings was held by the Cabinet in Israel. There was great apprehension when head of Israeli military intelligence, Major General Aharon Yariv, reported to army headquarters, apparently mistakenly, that the Egyptian army was equipped with poison gas (Israel was unprepared for chemical warfare).
“All Egypt is now prepared to plunge into total war which will put an end to Israel” - Cairo Radio
The NY Times reports that the PLO pledges to “keep sending commandos” into Israel.
Evening: Israel called up more reserve units and sent them to the southern front to face Egypt’s gathering forces.
SUBJECT: Urgent Message to Eshkol: We had hoped yesterday that tension in the Israel-Syria-UAR triangle was dropping after an ostentatious Egyptian show of putting its forces around Cairo on alert. Last night, however, we and the Israelis learned that the Egyptians have moved forces into the Sinai. Now they have moved forces in front of the UN Emergency Force on the Israel-UAR border and all but ordered it to withdraw. - Memorandum From the President's Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson.

May 18th 1967
“The Zionist barrack in Palestine is about to collapse and be destroyed. Every one of the hundred million Arabs has been living for the past nineteen years on one hope – to live to see the day Israel is liquidated…There is no life, no peace nor hope for the gangs of Zionism to remain in the occupied land.”
“As of today, there no longer exists an international emergency force to protect Israel….The sole method we shall apply against Israel is a total war which will result in the extermination of Zionist existence”. - Cairo Radio’s Voice of the Arabs broadcast
An Egyptian MIG-21 made extensive photographic reconnaisnce of possible targets in the central Negev.
UN Secretary General U Thant was informed that Egyptian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Riad had called the ambassadors of the UNEF countries to his office in Cairo to declare that they must withdraw their troops immediately. The ambassadors, as with General Rikhye, were also not authorised to undertake such an action.

Noon: Egyptian ambassador Kony informed U Thant “Egypt has decided to terminate the presence of the United Nations Emergency Force from the territory of the United Arab Republic and Gaza Strip. Therefore I request that the necessary steps be taken for the withdrawal of the Force as soon as possible.”

7pm: UN Secretary General U Thant sent cable to Cairo advising that UNEF would be withdrawn. He added the rider: “Irrespective of the reasons for the actions you have taken, in all frankness, may I advise you that I have serious misgivings about it for…I believe that this Force has been an important factor in maintaining the relative quiet in the area of its deployment during the past ten years and that its withdrawal may have grave implications for peace.”

The UK were deeply upset at the U Thant caving in without bringing the matter to the UN General Assembly:
“The presence of the Emergency Forces in the Sinai desert had kept tensions down. We don’t have to look further for a United Nations success. Yet the Government of the United Arab Republic has made a formal request for the withdrawal of UNEF from its territory as soon as possible.
It really makes a mockery of the peacekeeping work of the United Nations if, as soon as the tension rises, the United Nations force it told to leave. Indeed the collapse of UNEF might well have repercussions on other United Nations peacekeeping forces, and the credibility of the United Nations in this field are thrown into question.”

UN Force Leaves Sinai
…”UNEF was established with the full concurrence of the United Nations…any decision to withdraw the force should be taken in the United Nations after full consultation with all the countries involved – it should not be taken as the result of some unilateral decision.” - George Brown (British Foreign Secretary), speaking at United Nations Association annual dinner in London

TELEGRAM FROM PM ESHKOL TO PRES JOHNSON:(extract) "First: The primary link in the chain of tension is the Syrian policy of terrorist infiltration and sabotage. From Under Secretary Rostow's conversation with Ambassador Harman, I am glad to learn that your government and mine are agreed on this. You are correct, Mr. President, in stating that we are having our patience tried to the limits. There have been 15 attempts at murder and sabotage in the past six weeks. We have not reacted. This in itself proves that there is no lack of temperance and responsibility on our part. On the other hand, the problem is not solved indefinitely by inaction. We cannot always rely on the stroke of fortune which has so far prevented the terrorist acts from taking the toll of life and injury intended by the perpetrators. Although many acts have been committed from Lebanon and Jordan, our present conviction is that Syria is responsible and is attempting to embroil other Arab states. We are alive to this stratagem and shall not cooperate with it.
Second: The Egyptian build-up of armor and infantry in Sinai, to the extent so far of approximately four divisions including 600 tanks, is greater than ever before, and has no objective justification. Egypt knows that there is no foundation for reports of troop concentration against Syria. Yet even after receiving information on this subject from UN and other sources, the UAR has increased its troop concentration. This naturally forces me to undertake precautionary reinforcement in the south. One of the dangers that we face is that the Egyptian troop concentration may encourage Syria to resume terroristic acts under the false impression of immunity."

In front of the building of the Zionist Movement in the Johannes Vermeerstraat in Amsterdam, more than hundred young Jews are cuing up, ready to fight for Israel. My friend David and I join the cue.

"I had returned to London with my young family a few months before the war broke out.I immediately went to Rex House in Piccadilly which was the HQ of the Jewish Agency to see if I could volunteer as I felt so the need to be a part of what was happening in Israel. I was put on the desk for sorting out the hundreds of volunteers who wanted to go to Israel to fight what we all thought was the existential battle. This was a most uplifting experience.Youngsters from all backgrounds poured into the building. Many were children of mixed marriages who begged to be recognised as Jewish a pre-condition for volunteering. It is frightening to project what would be the reaction today in the UK if Israel were, God Forbid, attacked on all sides. One day to my surprise my mother who was looking after the kids turned up she too could not sit at home - I think ended up sorting papers or making sandwiches. There were also shuls organised for blood donations, collection depots for jewellery and money and the ordinary man/woman in the street in London who watched the war in awe and admiration of Zhal and the Jewish State." (Zelda.)

"I was working at the volunteer centre in Manchester, UK, at that time, and was not able to volunteer because I was too young. The euphoria and sheer pride we all felt was wonderful. We all had stickers "We Stand By Israel" to put in our windows and in our cars, and lots of people from my school stuck them on their jackets and schoolbags. I remember marching with others down Cheetham Hill Road in Manchester, carrying an Israeli flag, to a Rally at the New Century Hall, and everybody along the route (non-Jews and Jews) were cheering us. (A bit different from now!) I was a part of one of the first youth groups (Habonim Dror) who travelled on the West Bank and Gaza a few weeks afterwards." (Ilana Rosen.)

Foreign army volunteers have been a mainstay in Israel's defence since before the State was created.
In 1948, over 3,500 overseas volunteers, many of them veterans of World War II, came from 43 different countries to serve. According to then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, these overseas volunteers provided not only a critical mass of additional manpower, but just as importantly, they also served as a physical expression of the solidarity of the Jewish people. Under Ben-Gurion's auspices, a professional fighting force was created, the Mahal, an acronym for Mitnadvei Hutz La'Aretz (overseas volunteers) - although as Dr. Jason Fenton, one of the 1948 volunteers recalls, local Israelis thought it stood for Meshuga'im Mi'Hutz La'Aretz, those "crazy guys from outside Israel."

While the number of foreign volunteers generally declined once conscription became the law and Israel's Jewish population bloomed, there was an urge in foreign volunteers during and after the Six-Day War of 1967.

These foreign volunteers were called "Mahalniks", and in 1967 Mahal-Nahal did not accept people that weren't Jewish. The IDF policy is only to accept Jews out of the fear that it would otherwise appear mercenary. Security might also be a reason.

May 19th 1967
"El Fatah activities consisting of terrorism and sabotage are a major factor in that they provoke strong reactions in Israel by the Government and population alike. Some recent incidents of this type have seemed to indicate a new level of organisation and training of those who participate in these actions." - UN Secretary General U Thant, Security Council meeting.
“I do not want to cause alarm but it is difficult for me not to warn the Council that, as I see it, the position in the Middle East is more disturbing…indeed more menacing than at any time since the fall of 1956.” - UN Secretary General U Thant, Security Council meeting - U.N. S/7906 26th May 1967

4pm: General Rikhye drove to the UN observation post on the Gaza-Tel Aviv road to deliver this message: “In accordance with instructions I have received from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, you will withdraw your guards and observation posts at 5 o’clock.”. . . .
By this time there were an estimated 40 thousand Egyptian troops and 500 tanks in the Sinai. Israel ordered an immediate large-scale mobilization of reserves.
“The Egyptian Army build-up in Sinai was described in Tel Aviv today as the largest force to be assembled for ten years” - The Times.
Minister Levi Eshkol sent a message to France’s President de Gaulle assuring him that he could count on Israel not to initiate hostilities “...until or unless (Egyptian forces) close the Straits of Tiran to free navigation by Israel”
Eshkol also advised the leading maritime powers: “Israel would stop at nothing to cancel the blockade. It is essential that President Nasser should not have any illusions.”
"Our intention to regard the closing of the Straits as a casus belli was communicated...to the foreign ministers of those states which had supported international navigation in the Straits in 1957 and thereafter. There can be no doubt that these warnings reached Cairo. One thing was now clear. If Nasser imposed a blockade, the explosion would ensue not from 'miscalculation', but from an open-eyed and conscious readiness for war." - Abba Eban

May 20th 1967

“Our forces are now entirely ready not only to repulse any aggression, but to initiate the act ourselves, and to explode the Zionist presence in the Arab homeland of Palestine. The Syrian army, with its finger on the trigger, is united. I believe that the time has come to begin a battle of anihilation.”- Syria’s Defence Minister Hafez Assad (later to be Syria’s President).

May 21st 1967
The NY Times reported Egyptian soldiers massing in the Sinai.

Egypt’s President Nasser announced: “The Israeli flag shall not go through the Gulf of Aqaba. Our sovereignty over the entrance to the Gulf cannot be disputed”.
The NY Times reported that the PLO would be stepping up its attacks in Israel, that Cairo was calling up 10,000 reserves and that Iraq would be sending aid for a battle against Israel.

"We want a full scale, popular war of liberation… to destroy the Zionist enemy" - Syrian president Dr. Nureddin al-Attasi speech to troops.
"Israel today proposed a mutual reduction in troop concentrations in the Middle East, while its Arab neighbours laid plans to strengthen still further their forces round her borders…" - The Times.

May 23rd 1967
Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran (Gulf of Aqaba ) to Israeli shipping, thereby cutting off Israel’s only supply route with Asia and stopping the flow of oil from its main supplier, Iran. By international law, this was an act of war.)
[Note: In January 1950, Egypt had recognised the international character of the Straits of Tiran.]
"By his reported decision to close the Straits of Tiran, President Nasser has struck at Israel in one of her most sensitive areas. Eilat is her gateway to the east and the vital supplies of oil....In the present atmosphere of tension, time is not on Israel's side. She has had to react to the situation by calling up a large number of reserves, but the economy, already ailing slightly, cannot afford for long to be bled of the highly qualified manpower which has been taken back into the army. ...The Arab armies can certainly afford to mass their armies on Israel's border for longer than Israel can remain at a high state of military readiness. There is a danger that pressure from within might oblige Israel to do something quickly rather than submit to the economic strangulation of a long period of unrelieved tension." Charles Douglas-Home, The Times .

THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS: ...In the hour of crisis all Arabs stand shoulder to shoulder; troops mobilize and offers of help flash to and fro...But there is one element that is new and that justifies U Thant's extreme concern and hurried journey to Cairo. The disappearance of United Nations forces from the Sinai peninsula turns the Gulf of Aqaba back into what it was before 1956 - a bottleneck leading to Israel's only east-looking port, the entrance to which is now again commanded by Arab batteries. Israel has often said in the past that interference with shipping in the Gulf would be a casus belli; and late last night President Nasser was reported to have claimed to have closed it to Israeli vessels and any ships carrying strategic supplied to Israel. - Leader editorial (extract), The Times May 23rd 1967

9.30am: Israel's Ministerial Committee on Defence got underway, finally unanimously passing a policy statement:
The blockade is an act of aggression against Israel. Any decision on action is postponed for 48 hours, during which time the Foreign minister will explore the position of the United States. The Prime Minister and the Foreign minister are empowered to decide, should they see fit, on a journey by the Foreign minister to Washington to meet President Johnson.

Housewives, who had displayed restraint up until then, stormed the grocery stores, stocking up on canned goods, flour, oil and sugar in preparatrion for a long war. Thousands of Israelis paid their taxes and others donated cash and jewellery to the Defence Ministry to provide extra funds to purchase weapons. Neighbourhood groups formed on their own to build bomb shelters, dig trenches and volunteer for essential services.
The nation's mobilisation was by now far advanced and the newspapers were filled with columns of cancelled meetings and postponed weddings "because of the situation". Old men and women now drove the public buses since the young drivers had been called up. Thousands of Israeli mothers baked cakes and tarts and sent them off to the Negev so their fighters would have something fresh to eat apart from combat rations. Civilians appeared in the outposts handing out cigarettes, soft drinks and magazines.
Israelis were digging in, getting ready for war.
Mobilisation started with phone calls to the commanders of the most important units. One of them, a lawyer in civilian life, reported for duty with his private secretary and driver and 'within ninety minutes was busy getting his brigade out of the card index and into the field'. The message passed down the line to officers who called NCOs, who called soldiers. Other units were called up by code words that were broadcast on the radio.. . . .In a couple of days, most Israeli men under fifty were in some sort of uniform. Some units had a turnout of more than 100 per cent. Overage men arrived at their unit's mobilisation points and demanded to be allowed to fight. One persistent 63-year-old, a veteran of the British army, was told his unit would only take him back if he brought a jeep. the next day he turned up with one from Hertz.

President Johnson tonight condemned the Arab blockade of Israel shipping in the Gulf of Aqaba as "illegal and potentially disastrous to the cause of peace"..."The purported closing of the Gulf of Aqaba has brought a new and grave dimension to the crisis. The United States considers the gulf to be an international waterway."...Mr Johnson condemned the "hurried withdrawal" of the United Nations emergency force from Gaza and Sinai, and the "recent build-up of military forces in the area". - The Times

May 24th 1967

Israel’s foreign minister Abba Eban met with UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson at 10 Downing Street. Wilson revealed that the Cabinet had met that morning and concluded that Egypt’s blockade “must not be allowed to triumph; Britain would join with others in an effort to open the Straits.”
“The British radio and television, which I turned on briefly before retiring, were full of sympathy for Israel, but they had a distinctly funereal air”, Abba Eban noted in his diary, on returning to his hotel, that evening.

May 26th 1967
“Taking over Sharm el Sheikh meant confrontation with Israel (and) also meant that we were ready to enter a general war with Israel. The battle will be a general one and our basic objective will be to destroy Israel” - Gamal Abdel Nasser speech to the General Council of the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions
Egypt’s government sponsored daily paper Al Ahram carried an article by Mohamed Heikal (a close friend of Nasser’s). He wrote that closing the Straits of Tiran “had put Israel in a situation where it had to react…for many reasons, chiefly the psychological, Israel cannot accept or remain indifferent to what has taken place…Israel has to reply now. It has to deal a blow…Then it will be our turn to deal a second blow, which we wil deliver with the utmost possible effectiveness…Let Israel begin! Let our second blow then be ready! Let it be a knockout!”

Eban opened the discussion by saying the Cabinet meeting on Sunday was very important; there has never been a moment like this in Israeli history; and the country is on the footing of expectancy. If Israel is denied access to the Gulf of Aqaba, its primary line to East Africa and Asia--half of the world--would be cut off. From a legal point of view, the Law of the Sea Conference in 1958 clearly supported the principle of freedom of the seas as applied to Gulf of Aqaba and Strait of Tiran. Nasser has committed an act of aggression and his objective is the strangulation of Israel. Israel is confronted with two alternatives: either to surrender or to stand, and we are confident if we stand we will win. - Memorandum of discussion between Abba Eban and President Johnson in Washington.

The head of the Mercaz Harav Kook Yeshiva (an academy for the advanced study of Jewish texts) issued a ruling for his students being called up by the Military Police that "despite the Sabbath, they should board the trucks and go. They should board tanks and violate the prohibition against touching their tefillin (phylacteries) on Sabbath and take them with them when they go to join their units. ...in a national emergency, Army service falls into the category of "pikuach nefesh" (the saving of a life)."

UK: The Chief Rabbi, the Haham and the chairman of Liberal / Progressive synagogues asked for special prayers for peace for Israel to be recited in synagogues throughout the country.
Scores of non-Jewish Germans, including nurses and ex-soldiers had contacted the Israeli Embassy volunteer their services or to raise funds, according to the Jewish Chronicle correspondent in Bonn.

Nasser cancels a planned Egyptian attack on Israel (Operation fajr - Dawn), planned for following day, after it became obvious that the Israelis knew about the plan.
The NY Times reported that Jordan would admit Saudi and Iraqi forces into its country to do battle with Israel

May 28th 1967
“The existence of Israel is in itself an aggression…what happened in 1948 was an aggression – an aggression against the Palestinian people. …(the crisis had developed because) “Eshkol threatened to march on Damascus, occupy Syria and overthrow the Syrian regime. It was our duty to come to the aid of our Arab brother. It was our duty to ask for the withdrawal of UNEF. When UNEF went, we had to go to the Gulf of Aqaba and restore things to what they were when we were in Aqaba in 1956” - Gamel Abdel Nasser at a press conference for several hundred of the World’s press.
“We will not accept any…coexistence with Israel.…Today the issue is not the establishment of peace between the Arab states and Israel….The war with Israel is in effect since 1948”. - Gamel Abdel Nasser press conference

May 29th 1967
“Now, eleven years after 1956 we are restoring things to what they were in 1956…The issue now at hand is not the Gulf of Aqaba, the Straits of Tiran or the withdrawal of UNEF, but the rights of the Palestinian people.” - Nasser speech to General Assembly in Cairo.
Abba Eban in his memoirs later commented Nasser’s speech “took the conflict far back beyond the maritime context to place the question mark squarely on Israel’s survival.”
NY Times reports continuing Egyptian build up of military forces in the Sinai and new Syrian attacks on Israel.Washington Post reports that despite considerable provocation, Israel was still reluctant to have a showdown with its enemies

Jordan signed a five year mutual defense treaty with Egypt, thereby joining the military alliance already in place between Egypt and Syria.Jordanian forces were given to the command of an Egyptian General.
"The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel ... to face the challenge, while standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab nation. This act will astound the world. Today they will know that the Arabs are arranged for battle, the critical hour has arrived. We have reached the stage of serious action and not of more declarations." - Gamal Abdel Nasser speech
I
srael called upon Jordan numerous times to refrain from hostilities. Hussein, however, was caught on the horns of a galling dilemma: allow Jordan to be dragged into war and face the brunt of the Israeli response, or remain neutral and risk full-scale insurrection among his own people. Army Commander-in-Chief General Sharif Zaid Ben Shaker warned in a press conference that "If Jordan does not join the war, a civil war will erupt in Jordan".

May 31st 1967
“The existence of Israel is an error which must be rectified. This is our opportunity to wipe out the ignominy which has been with us since 1948. Our goal is clear - to wipe Israel off the map” - President Aref of Iraq
“Under the terms of the military agreement signed with Jordan, Jordanian artillery, coordinated with the forces of Egypt and Syria, is in a position to cut Israel in two at Qalqilya, where Israeli territory between the Jordan armistice line and the Mediterranean Sea is only 12 kilometres wide”. - Al Akhbar, Cairo's daily newspaper
(NB, the newspaper referred to the “armistice line”, not the “border” which is now claimed by the Palestinians to be a legal boundary).

Dr Ibrahim Makhos, the Syrian Foreign Minister, left for Paris today with a message for General de Gaulle which was officially described as dealing with “Anglo-American-Zionist plans for widespread aggression against the Arab people” - The Times

UK PARLIAMENT DEBATED THE CRISIS.

"Within hours of rolling into the abandoned United Nations military base in El Arish, Sinai, in June of 1967, we dubbed ourselves “The Desert Devils,” painting the words in English and in Spanish on a whitewashed barracks wall. We young Jews came to Israel from all over in the euphoric days immediately following the Six Day War, all fired by pride, hope, and idealism. We spent our first few weeks picking fruit on various kibbutzim, or in Jerusalem clearing debris and ammunition. Then some of us managed to join the first group of volunteers attached to the Israeli Army — and were thrilled at the opportunity. To be sure, it wasn’t combat, much to the chagrin of those of us bursting with testosterone and romantic naiveté, but it was about as close as we were going to get. We were civilians who never took an oath to the Israeli Army; our uniforms had no insignias or marks of rank. We were unarmed, although our Israeli officers indulged some of us with basic weapons training, and let a few others keep personal side arms. Our job in Sinai, just on the other side of Gaza, was relatively simple. After a two-day crash course, volunteers went into the desert and drove, pushed or dragged in Egyptian military vehicles, many of them nearly new. IDF mine specialists accompanied volunteers as they worked near known or suspected minefields. By late August of 1967, my money was running low and the date of my return charter from London to the U.S. was approaching. I had to make a decision: stay with my new friends and comrades, or return to my old student life in North Carolina. I chose to return to the States, a decision I still ponder to this day." (Mark I. Pinsky.)

June 1st 1967
“Brethren and sons, this is the day of the battle to avenge our martyred brethren who fell in 1948. It is the day to wash away the stigma. We shall, God willing, meet in Tel Aviv and Haifa” - Radio broadcast by Iraqi President Abdel Rahman Aref
“Those who survive will remain in Palestine. I estimate that none of them will survive.” - Ahmed Shukairy, chairman of PLO in Jordanian Jerusalem, asked in news interview what will happen to the Israelis if there is a war.

Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister of Israel, sent message to Russian Premiere Kosygin: "When the organs of Arab propaganda raised the contention that Israel is concentrating forces in order to attack Syria, I invited your Ambassador in Israel to visit the frontier to find out for himself that there was no truth in this allegation. To my regret, the Ambassador did not respond to our invitation. The Chief of Staff of the UNTSO checked these claims and informed the Secretary-General of the UN and the capitals of the region that there were no Israel concentrations on the Syrian border. The Secretary-General even included a statement to this effect in the Report he submitted on May 19th to the Security Council."

GERMANY TO SEND GAS MASKS, Bonn: The German Cabinet decided unanimously tonight to agree to Israel’s request for 20,000 gas masks for use in case of an Arab attack. A spokesman said it was “a humanitarian measure”, not a delivery of war material to the Middle East.

US BACKS BRITAIN ON SEA PASSAGE RIGHTS: "The United States is backing the initiative taken by Britain to rally support by maritime powers to keep the Gulf of Aqaba open to the world’s shipping, the State Department spokesman said in Washington yesterday" - The Times.

MOVE TO JERUSALEM BY PALESTINE LEADER: …Ahmed Shukairy: “We will coordinate efforts of the PLO with responsible authorities in Jordan in all fields – politically, militarily and materially…” Mr Shukairy seemed determined that the war should come soon. "It was", he said, "very probable that the Jordan army might start the battle.” It is doubtful whether his new allies would agree with this. - The Times, Nicholas Herbert, Amman, June 1st

To create the illusion that war was not near General Moshe Dayan had thousands of soldiers released for the weekend.
Their appearance back at their homes and on beaches and in café’s seemed to confirm that tensions were relaxing. Some reporters gave up their vigil and left Israel in search of more pressing stories.
A CHURCHILL GIVES HIS BLOOD: Winston S. Churchill, the son of Mr. Randolph Churchill and grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, who is covering events in Israel for the “News of the World,” joined a queue of civilians waiting at Dizengoff Circle on Sunday to donate blood for the emergency blood banks which have been established in the city.
Seventy tourists from Britain also donated blood before leaving for home.
Civil defence preparations are being pushed forward. In Tel Aviv, 12,000 volunteers, including school children, joined in digging trenches and filling sandbags.

In the UK "500 volunteers, including 100 non-Jews w(ill) be leaving London shortly to take over civilian jobs in Israel left vacant by Israelis called up for armed service," reported The Jewish Chronicle. "In Stockholm between 200 and 250 Swedes are ready to leave for Israel, including, it is reported, some formers members of the Swedish contingent with the United Nations Emergency Force in the Gaza Strip." Elsewhere in the Jewish Chronicle there was a full page advertisement headed "EMERGENCY APPEAL TO BRITISH JEWS", with the signatories including Britain's Chief Rabbi and Haham. The text included: "Israel is in mortal danger; she stands encircled by enemies who declare their intent to destroy her. This is an appeal to every Jew in the country...to stand by the people of Israel. The Jews of Israel are ready to pay for their country with their lives; the Jews of Britain must show that they are ready to make a sacrifice too."
"Pupils at Carmel College responded to an emergency appeal for Israel and raised a considerable sum of money. They have unanimously asked the school authorities to give them bread and water for at least one meal so that the money could be devoted to Israel".

June 3rd 1967
The New York Times reported that Britain declared the Egyptian blockade could lead to war. They further reported that four Syrian commandos had been intercepted in Israel

MILITARY BUILD-UP: By this time Egypt had 210,000 troops ready for deployment, with 100,000 of them with 930 tanks ready in the Sinai. They had 30 Tu-16 Russian-made bombers, which were a threat to Israel’s cities. Overall the Egyptian Air Force, by far the largest and the most modern of all the Arab air forces, consisting of about 450 combat aircraft, all Soviet-built and relatively new.
Syria had 63,000 troops and Jordan 55,000 – totalling 328,000 troops ready to fight Israel.
The Arabs had twice the number of tanks compared to Israel (2,330 against 1000) and far more combat aircraft too (682 compared to Israel’s 286); They had 1,845 armoured personnel carriers compared to Israel’s 1,500.
However, by fully mobilizing Israel could muster 250,000 men. Israel would need to rely on the training and motivation of this largely civilian army to counter the numeric superiority of the Arabs in manpower and weaponry.
Israel’s newly-appointed Defence Minister Moshe Dayan, wishing to confine hostilities if possible to the imminent battles against Egypt, ordered the Israeli Army not to open a second front with Jordan in the West Bank in the event of war. He instructed the head of the Israeli Army Central Command: “You must not do anything to entangle Israel with the Jordanians...”

June 4th 1967
Secret resolution passed by the Israeli Cabinet: After hearing a report on the military and political situation from the Prime Minister, the Foreign minister, the Defence Minister, the Chief of Staff and the head of military intelligence the Government ascertained that the armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan are deployed for immediate multifront aggression, threatening the very existence of the State.The Government resolves to take military action in order to liberate Israel from the stranglehold of aggression which is progressively being tightened around Israel.The Government authorises the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister to confirm to the General Staff of the IDF the time for action.Members of the Cabinet will receive as soon as possible the information concerning the military operation to be carried out.The Government charges the Foreign Minister with the task of exhausting all possibilities of political action in order to explain Israel’s stand and to obtain the support of the powers.

King Husain of Jordan today warned Britain and the United States that they stood to lose their friends in the Arab world for ever if they fell into the Zionist trap of supporting Israel in the present crisis.
"There are no words I can use to express my disappointment at the attitude that the British Government has taken with regard to the Gulf of Aqaba", he told a crowded press conference at his palace in Amman.

Map of the Six Day War in the Sinai

June 5th 1967
MILITARY BUILD-UP: Seven to eight Egyptian division, two of them armoured, now deployed in Sinai: 200 tanks opposite Eilat, with the aim of cutting off the Southern Negev. Along Israel's Eastern border: 60,000 Jordanian soldiers and 300 tanks. The Jordanian army placed under Egyptian command units, as well as Iraq forces which had entered its territory. On Israel's Northern border with Syria, 50,000 Syrian soldiers dug in, fortified and protected by concrete and steel. Some 600 Egyptian, Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi planes ready.
War broke out on 5 June when Israel responded to the Egyptian military build-up by launching a surprise attack on Egypt’s air force, destroying most of it on the ground within a matter of hours.
That same morning, Israel sent a message to Jordan’s leader King Hussein via the US State Department, the UN and the British Foreign Office, saying that, despite the outbreak of war, it would not attack the West Bank if Jordan maintained quiet on that front.
Jordan ignored Israel’s appeal to avoid conflict.
That morning, King Hussein received false information from Egypt denying Egyptian losses and claiming a massive and successful Egyptian attack against Israel. Emboldened by this information, Jordan launched immediate multiple attacks on Israel: -civilian suburbs of Tel-Aviv were shelled by artillery;
Israel’s largest military airfield, Ramat David, was shelled; Jordanian warplanes attacked the central Israeli towns of Netanya and Kfar Sava; thousands of mortar shells rained down on West Jerusalem hitting civilian locations indiscriminately, including the Hadassah Hospital and the Mount Zion Church;
Israel’s parliament building (the Knesset) and the Prime Minister’s office, each in Israeli-controlled West Jerusalem, were targeted; 20 Israelis died in these attacks; 1000 were wounded. 900 buildings in West Jerusalem were damaged.
“Jerusalem is totally engulfed in war…” reported the British Consul-General that morning.
All this happened before Israel reacted militarily against Jordan, or moved at all into the West Bank.
NOTE: Israel’s entry into the West Bank in June 1967 was not part of a premeditated Israeli plan for territorial expansion. Quite the opposite: Israel’s own Defence Minister instructed the army not to fight the Jordanians, or move into the West Bank. That position only changed as a result of Jordan’s disregard for Israeli appeals to avoid hostilities, and by its intensive bombardment of Israeli targets. Israel’s entry into the West Bank was an act of self-defence. Its presence there originates as a result, not of Israeli aggression, but of Jordanian aggression.

10,000 at Albert Hall Rally About 10,000 people filled the Albert Hall last night for a demonstration of solidarity with Israel. They heard speeches from members of the three main British parliamentary parties, from Dr. Immanuel Jakoboits, the Chief Rabbi, from Sir Barnet Janner, MP, president of the Zionist Federation, and from Mr. Donald Silk, chairman of the federation, which organized the rally. - The Times

With the advent of the Six day War (June 5, 1967), Jewish Volunteers were now enlisting from all over the world. Arriving from Europe, North America and many other countries they were now dispersed among kibbutzim all over the country. (Months after the aftermath of the War, the IDF resumed absorbing the Volunteers once more into the Nachal Brigade framework.)

June 6th 1967
Abba Eban, Israel's Foreign Minister addresses UN Security Council: "I have just come from Jerusalem to tell the Security Council that Israel, by its independent effort and sacrifice, has passed from serious danger to successful resistance.
Two days ago Israel's condition caused much concern across the humane and friendly world. Israel had reached a sombre hour. Let me try to evoke the point at which our fortunes stood.
An army, greater than any force ever assembled in history in Sinai, had massed against Israel's southern frontier. Egypt had dismissed the United Nations forces which symbolized the international interest in the maintenance of peace in our region. Nasser had provocatively brought five infantry divisions and two armoured divisions up to our very gates; 80,000 men and 900 tanks were poised to move."

June 7th 1967
"This morning, the Israel Defense Forces liberated Jerusalem. We have united Jerusalem, the divided capital of Israel. We have returned to the holiest of our holy places, never to part from it again.To our Arab neighbors we extend, also at this hour - and with added emphasis at this hour - our hand in peace. And to our Christian and Muslim fellow citizens, we solemnly promise full religious freedom and rights. We did not come to Jerusalem for the sake of other peoples' holy places, and not to interfere with the adherents of other faiths, but in order to safeguard its entirety, and to live there together with others, in unity." - Moshe Dayan.

"Peace has now returned with our forces in control of all the city and its environs. You may rest assured that no harm whatsoever shall come to the places sacred to all religions. I have requested the Minister of Religious Affairs to get in touch with the religious leaders in the Old City in order to ensure regular contact between them and our forces, so as to make certain that the former may continue their spiritual activities unhindered." - Prime Minister Levi Eshkol.

"I finally found the nondescript Jewish Agency office. A middle-aged man with a British accent interviewed me. When I mentioned my experience as an ordnance officer in the American army, he brightened and asked if my experience was field or staff. I had served a year in Korea with the Seventh Infantry Division, in a forward support company. That was the right answer. "We invite you to lead a group of civilian volunteers to work in Sinai to clear out damaged and abandoned military equipment. Are you interested?"
Interested? Of course I was interested! Suddenly I felt as if I floated six feet in the air, levitating. "Yes, certainly!"
"Most Israeli ordnance workers are reservists. We need to demobilize as many as possible so the economy can begin functioning again," explained my interviewer. "Your group will facilitate that. When can you leave?"
I was traveling with a backpack. Immediately.
We would wear plain fatigues without insignia. We should avoid journalists. The pay was zero. Rations would be mediocre, and we would be billeted, well, it was not yet clear how, but I should expect the facilities to be raw.
My heart rose.
I learned the history of the recent Sinai battles there, in the dusty field, talking with Israeli soldiers and officers on the desert roads and dunes amid the rugged topography. I would flesh out the details long afterward -studying the voluminous literature spawned by Israel's stunning 1967 military campaign.
The developments were unexpected. The results astonishing. Weeks of Arab threats and escalating offensive dispositions. U.N. peacekeepers thrown out at Arab demand.
My first image of Sinai was on a starkly bright day in June 1967. Wrecked equipment of the Egyptian regiment that failed to block the Sinai coastal road was still in place, desolate on the ridge just beyond the site where the lovely Israeli town of Yamit arose a few years later. Still hanging in the hot air was the sickly-sweet smell of rotting bodies. Burial teams had not yet completed their work. Near El Arish we heard the barking of scavenger dogs, to be shot on sight.
The yellow-white buildings of a deserted United Nations camp stood outside El Arish, arid against the empty landscape near the Mediterranean coast. A large English sign painted in black on one structure faced the gate to the road: Do Not Shoot -We Are In -U.N. The building was riddled with bullet holes. Handwriting on the wall. The United Nations had facilitated Egypt's escalation to the 1967 war by evacuating its units from Sinai during the crisis before the fighting started.
An Israeli colonel and I drove allover northern Sinai inventorying the armor and artillery that littered the landscape. We marked detailed maps with our notes. I had been assigned as leader of a group of civilian volunteers that would do the work of recovering the equipment. He set the priorities.
The volunteers in my group hailed from the comers of the globe -the United States, Canada, England, Australia, France, Brazil, and Argentina. Two Americans were former Marines; another husky fellow claimed to have been in Special Forces (his ignorance of army jargon made me doubt his claim). A Brit had been an RAP lieutenant. The Brazilian's profession, diamond dealer. One Argentinean, Lea, was a dental hygienist. Another, Raquel, formerly an office worker, surprised herself with her coolness under pressure and natural leadership ability.
Two Australians from Melbourne were particularly energetic and my favorites for tougher jobs. Max Haber and Nolm Rosenbaum were in their early twenties and claimed to be military veterans, but I guessed, and soon confirmed, that they were not. Each looked fit and stood near six-foot. Their interview had a character of its own.
Tragically, both Australians were killed in Sinai. For Max Haber, it happened a month or so later, as a damaged Egyptian tank was being ramped up a carrier at the EI Arish collection point. The turret brake broke loose and the large gun barrel suddenly swung sharply and swiped him, crushing his chest. He laughed and smiled as he was loaded on the back of a truck, lying on some blankets for cushioning, for the ride for medical attention in Be'er Sheva. Perhaps a helicopter evacuation would have saved him. He died en route.
Norm Rosenbaum had tripped an anti-personnel mine near the Suez Canal.
Norm and Max had flown to Israel together the week of the Six-Day War. Best friends, they lived and died together.
What I finally realized was that in Avram's long view of history, my family was only recently American, half-a dozen decades. A pittance to him. Good fortune to us. In the bigger scheme of things I was a Jew coming home.
Some 10-to-15-thousand volunteers, mostly in their twenties and thirties, came from all the world within a few weeks of the war's outbreak. Most were Jews. Israel welcomed us warmly.
In 1967, we slept without dreams on the beaches viewing the mountains pink and tan across the sea in Arabia hazy and mysterious, but not beckoning. We were home, profoundly happy to be there, aware that volunteering meant something, undefined but life-changing. Our ancestors came from this land, two millennia ago. Our ancient homeland and culture beckoned, and we had returned." (Michael Zimmerman.)

June 14th 1967
Abba Eban TV broadcast: "Wars are not always begun by shots. They are often begun by action and the action which really created the state of war in an acute sense was the imposition of the blockade. To try to murder somebody by strangulation is just as much attempted murder as if you tried to murder him by a shot, and therefore the act of strangulation was the first violent, physical act which had its part in the sequence. But also on that Monday morning we acted against the movement of forces. The Egyptian air force had been making incursions into Israel before, whether for reconnaissance or for other reasons, but there had been a pattern of encroachment. One never knows when aircraft come towards you what their intention is."
A document which we subsequently captured revealed a very instructive picture. The Egyptian command was taking a very intense interest in the disposition of Israel's very few airfields. They wanted to know where they were, and there was an operation plan, which I read to the Security Council, about how to knock them out. My impression is, therefore, that those aircraft which appeared on our radar screens that Monday morning were the start of an operation agianst our air fields. Whether they were to make the first reconnaissance move or the first knock-out is not relevant in this era of war. But we acted against movement towards us in the air."

"I am from Lithuania where Jews have always kept their Jewish identity, even absolutely secular families, like mine. What I think is that the Six Days War gave all Jews that wonderful feeling that we were not the weaklings left at everyone's mercy and I think this war started this awakening of Russian Jews, especially in Moscow, Leningrad, Ukranian Jews in Kiev, Odessa. I have very vivid memories of the the Soviet press initially celebrating Israel's "defeat", quieting down at a later stage and then screaming for ceasefire. At this point it was obvious Israel was winning the war. In Lithuania, where the local population never cherished much love to the Soviet Union, the situation there was different, than, I presume, in the Russian part of the country. The post offices were packed with Jews sending telegrams to Israel enquiring what happened to their friends and family. Lithuanians are in principal antisemitic, but their hatred towards the Russians was so great that it made them forget that "Jews" had won the victory, they simply celebrated the defeat of the USSR's friends." (Chava, Israel.)

"I was 18 years old and had never really considered my Jewishness. I lived in Westcliff-on-Sea, which had a decent sized Jewish community but I pretty much took it for granted. I went to a Catholic grammar school, was allowed out Friday nights, dated non-Jews and then, on June 2, the whole family went to London to see Topol in Fiddler on the Roof. That was when I discovered my identity and went to Rex House to sign up as a volunteer. My parents didn't understand the change in me but I remember they were so proud and supportive. I don't remember being afraid at all but had the romantic notion that "I would die for my country".
I was then glued to the TV until I finally flew out on June 20th, with a planeload of other kids from all over the UK. We were taken on a day trip to Yad Vashem and I wasn't the only one who knew so little about our heritage. There were Jewish boys who had never been Bar Mitzvah, let alone went to cheder, and I think it was a Rite of Passage for many of us.
The seed was sown and my pride in my Jewish heritage continues to grow. I spent 4 months that time, working on kibbutzim and in an army reservist camp. The Israelis were wonderful and so grateful for our presence. I imagine it must have been like Londoners during the Blitz. Everyone came together and helped each other. I was unaware that there were different types of Jews and different social classes. Everyone was equal with one ultimate goal - to live in peace. I went back to Israel as a volunteer two more times and always had that feeling of belonging." (Susie Hirschfield, Mexico)

"Studying at the London School of Economics when the war broke out, I called the Israel Embassy to volunteer and arrived in Israel shortly after the war ended. After a day in Tel Aviv, I bused to Jerusalem and walked the streets, mesmerized by the milieu and the moment. Another visitor at my hotel told me about an office that placed volunteers in jobs.
The next afternoon, I found the nondescript Jewish Agency office. A middle-aged man with a British accent interviewed me. When I mentioned my experience as an ordnance officer in the American army, he brightened and asked if my experience was field or staff. I had served a year in Korea with the Seventh Infantry Division, in a forward support company. That was the right answer. He called two men from the next room, and they spoke animatedly in Hebrew, of which I understood not a word. Together, they continued the interview, questioning me about military equipment. It was clear that they were checking my familiarity with field vocabulary to test my veracity.
Twenty minutes later, they spoke among themselves, and then the one with the British accent stood up and said quite formally, "We invite you to lead a group of civilian volunteers to work in Sinai to clear out damaged and abandoned military equipment. Are you interested?" Interested? Of course I was interested! Suddenly I felt as if I floated six feet in the air, levitating. "Yes, certainly!" (Rachel, London.)

"Then, as the tension escalated suddenly, it hit me - this place was part of me and for some unaccountable reason the whole Arab world was poised to destroy it and kill 'my family'. Thousands of us gathered outside the Jewish Agency building at Rex House to volunteer and in a week or so, huddled together in an old Bristol Britannia aircraft I, and my group flew, by night and landed at Lod airport. The war had effectively ended by then but we still had a job to do...." (Derek Lewis, London.)

"I remember the joy at the swift and stunning victory and the disbelief that the Old City of Jerusalem was once again in Jewish hands. I recall being told by a friend of my parents how when she had visited Jerusalem two years earlier, all she could do was peer over the wall dividing the city to look on the Old City (funny how people forget or never knew about the wall that the Jordanians built dividing the city and how Jews were excluded from their holy places).
I remember the overwhelming pro-Israel sentiment. Forty years on and looking from today's perspective, it seems that that sympathy was generated by the fact that once again the Jews were victims and that is the role that we should play, Jews as victors makes others feel uncomfortable. Is it too harsh to say that we can only garner approval when we are being shoveled into gas chambers? I remember a time when even Vanessa Redgrave and the BBC liked Israel; when Jewish students were not afraid to advertise their support for Israel on campuses in the UK and the States; when journalists who are supposed to be impartial did not vote to boycott Israel; when trendies and luvvies like Alan Rickman did not demonize and vilify Israel and when people making the statement, "I believe that Israel has the right to exist" did not believe they were saying something ground-breaking.
I remember the sheer pride that we did not have to rely on anyone else for our safety and survival, it was our responsibility and we were able to shoulder it. In 1945 if you had told a Jew in Auschwitz that twenty two years later a Jewish army defending an independent Jewish state would win against the might of three Arab armies, he would of course said it was an impossibility. From the nightmare of Auschwitz to the Six Day War victory in less than a generation.
But most of all I remember the hope that that victory brought, the fact that now Israel had a proper bargaining position and the feeling that her borders were 'secure'. Who would have thought that there is nothing that Israel can do to bring her Arab neighbours to the negotiating table, that forty years later any attempt to defend her citizens and borders would be deemed disproportionate, that terrorists who wish to ethnically cleanse all Jews from the Middle East are lauded and supported by academic, journalistic and governmental institutions in this country, that the mayor of the City of London can publicly state that the creation of the State of Israel was a mistake; how laughably naive that hope now seems. What is obvious now is that we really only won the battle and not the war.
But hope is perhaps all that we can hang on to. Remembering those terrifying days leading up to the Six-Day War in June 1967 when the situation appeared bleak and unwinnable and Israel achieved the impossible and survived we have to believe that Israel will once again survive her current embattlement." (Ruth Leveson, London)

The Machal Monument for Foreign Israeli soldiers, between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

983 Israeli soldiers were killed in the Six Day War. Some of them, like my friend David, were Mahalniks, Jews from "overseas" who volunteered.

The rest is history. The war was fought and won. It lasted a mere six days, one of the most spectacular victories in modern history. We could celebrate and breathe safely again. Life went back to normal.
But not completely. For I had witnessed something in those days and weeks that didn't make sense in the rest of my world. It has nothing to do with politics or war or even prayer. It had to do with Jewish identity. Collectively the Jewish people had looked in the mirror and said, We are still Jews. And by that they meant more than a private declaration of faith, "religion" in the conventional sense of the word. It meant that they felt part of a people, involved in its fate, implicated in its destiny, caught up in its tragedy, exhilarated by its survival. I had felt it. So had every other Jew I knew.
Why? The Israelis were not people I knew. They were neither friends nor relatives in any literal sense. Israel was a country two thousand miles away, which I had visited once but in which I had no plans to live. Yet I had no doubt that their danger was something I felt personally. It was then that I knew that being Jewish was not something private and personal but something collective and historical. It meant being part of an extended family, many of whose members I did not know, but to whom I nonetheless felt connected by bonds of kinship and responsibility.
It made no sense at all in the concepts and categories of the 1960's. That was when I realised that being Jewish was an exceptionally odd thing to be, structurally odd. Jewish identity was not simply a truth or set of truths I could accept or reject. It was not a preference I could express or disavow. It was not a faith I could adopt or leave alone. I had not chosen it. It had chosen me. Everything I had studied in modern philosophy, everything I had experienced in contemporary culture, told me that truth was universal and all else was individual – personal preference, autonomous choice. But what I had experienced was neither universal nor individual. Jewish identity was not, nor did it aspire to be, the universal human condition. Nor had I chosen it. It was something I was born into. But how can anyone truly be born into specific obligations and responsibilities without their consent? Logically it didn't add up. Yet psychologically it did. Without any conscious decision I was reminded that merely by being born into the Jewish people I was enmeshed in a network of relationships that connected me to other people, other places, other times. I belonged to a people. And being part of a people, I belonged.

"And then after the euphoric news of Israel's seemingly miraculous victory, I went on a demo in Hyde Park, where we joined Israel in offering land-for-peace. No one wanted to hang on to Judea, Samaria or Gaza, and we were sure the offer would be accepted. How wrong we were!" (Naomi Benari.)

With the Six-Day War in 1967, the respect for Israel within the American population grew immensely. American Jews celebrated Israel's victory as their own victory. Their feeling of self-worth swelled up, because "their" Israel had fought like David against Goliath. All the American presidential candidates who wanted to be elected after 1968 had to take this mood into consideration.

The most important result of the 1967 war was that for the first time, Israel was absolutely front-and-center as a priority for American Jews and Jewish organizations. From policymakers to professional historians to community members, many had thought that the 1960 Eichmann trial in Israel would generate American Jewish consciousness of the Holocaust. But this trial happened in Israel, not in the United States. It was the Six-Day War, with the specter of another Holocaust in the days and weeks prior to the conflict, which in the view of many triggered for the first time consciousness of the Holocaust.