Hello,…

A very interesting analysis. The only problem is, your sources are quite suspect. I mean really, can you do any better than norman finkelstien.com? He is not exactly neutral. And the other site, the center for middle east understanding, they are totally pro-palestinian and everything on that site is slanted and biased. If you had provided more reputable, neutral sources your thesis would be much stronger. There may be truth in what you wrote but I can’t make that determination because I can’t trust your sources. Incidentally,I teach a course in critical thinking, and I devote at least one lecture to understanding sources and figuring out if they can be relied upon. I should print this out and discuss it as a case in point.

Israel’s claim of an impending Egyptian attack has been widely accepted in the West. The Israeli public had been led to believe that it faced a threat of imminent attack, and perhaps even annihilation. However, the veracity of Israel’s claim is increasingly questioned.

A number of senior Israeli military and political figures have subsequently admitted that Israel was not faced with a genuine threat of attack, and instead, deliberately chose war. Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli army chief of staff during the war, later stated: “I do not believe that Nasser wanted war. The two divisions he sent into Sinai on May 14 would not have been enough to unleash an offensive against Israel. He knew it and we knew it.” (i) General Mattityahu Peled, a member of Israel’s general staff in 1967, opined that “the thesis according to which the danger of genocide weighed on us in June 1967, and that Israel struggled for its physical existence is only a bluff born and developed after the war.” (ii) Menachem Begin, not yet prime minister but a member of the Israeli cabinet, allowed that: “The Egyptian army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him.” (iii)

http://imeu.net/news/article005371.shtml

In order to understand the biuld up to the war the best place to begin is November, 1966. There was an Israeli retaliatory, as they call it, attack on a Jordanian village called Samu. In the course of this attack on Samu they blew up around 125 buildings and killed a large number of Jordanian soldiers.

When that attack happened the Jordanians and also the Syrians began to attack Nasser for not coming to their defense. Here was this Egyptian president claiming to be the leader of Arab nationalism and Pan-Arabism and he was doing nothing. Nasser was being taunted for his, as it were, impotence in the face of Israeli aggression.

And there were various incidents in the Syrian Golan Heights and also by Syrian-backed Palestinian commandos. Now there there’s a certain amount of confusion which is important to clarify. Moshe Dayan, who became the defense minister during the June ‘67 war, gave an interview in 1976 in which he acknowledges, and now I’m more or less quoting him, that 80%, he said at least 80%, but I’ll say 80% of the incidents with the Syrians were instigated by us. That we were engaged, now I’m using my language, but it’s I think a correct paraphrase, we were engaged in a land grab in what were called the demilitarized zones between Syria and Israel. And in the course of this land grab there were conflicts arising with the Syrians. And it was only as a result of these conflicts that the Syrians then would fire artillery from the Golan Heights on the Israelis. So Moshe Dayan himself acknowledged that was instigated by the Israelis.

In April, just let me get right up to the point where the count down, as it were, begins. In April 1967 one of those incidents instigated by the Israelis then unfolded into an aerial battle with the Syrians. And the Israelis knocked down 6 Syrian planes, 6 Syrian Migs, including 1 over Damascus. And it was at this point again when Nasser is being taunted that “you’re not doing anything.”

Things then start deteriorating between Israel and the Syrians. Come the beginning of May Israel is making clear that it’s going to engage in a large scale strike against Syria and now the test is for Nasser. Are you going to do anything about it? The Israelis are announcing over and over again, the generals, the statesmen, that we’re going to give Syria now a serious blow. And it’s at that point that Nasser announces, or Nasser tells Secretary General [not "of State"] U Thant, that the peace keeping force which had been stationed between Israel and Egypt in the Sinai, that peace keeping force should be withdrawn. And that’s the beginning of the count down to the war.
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=1067

Kenneth, to be fair don’t you think the above-mentioned facts are relevant to the discussion? Why did you omit them?

These facts comprise a diplomatic crisis, not a causus belli. They aren’t relevant because Israel’s justification for strikes on Egypt were Egyptian troop movements that later turned out to be defensive. It is true that Egypt was entirely responsible for the diplomatic crisis, but that’s a pretty poor rationale for war and territorial expansion.

And he decided to go along with Nasser and, I repeat, for the millionth time, Jordan attakced Israel first.

Indeed, after Nasser had lied to Hussein by promising him an easy victory and because Hussein would not be able to long maintain his political position had he not done so. Refraining from aggression would have likely resulted in civil war in Jordan.

You keep repeating yourself about Jordan attacking first…

Quit putting words in my mouth. I said Israel struck Egypt first, and this precipitated the war. Hussein was then mislead into attacking Israel. I never once argued that Israel attacked Jordan first.

Kenneth, to be fair don’t you think the above-mentioned facts are relevant to the discussion? Why did you selectively omit them?

And by the way, last time I checked Jordan was a sovereign country King Hussien had the authority to make his own decisions. And he decided to go along with Nasser and, I repeat, for the millionth time, Jordan attakced Israel first. You keep repeating yourself about Jordan attacking first, but I defy you to provide evidence, from a reputable source for that fallacious assertion. Show me a NY Times or Washington Post article from June of 67 that mentions Israel attacking Jordan first. You won’t show me such an article because no such article exists because what you are offering is a fairy tale.

And Jordan’s King Hussein, at Nasser’s urging, attacked Israel. Repeat after me Kenneth, Jordan attacked Israel first.

Nope. Israel launched the pre-emptive strike on the Egyptian Air Force that initiated the war. Jordan did not begin anything, and entered the war only reluctantly. King Hussein ordered a mobilization months before, but did not actually fight with Israel until the Six Day War itself.

Ok, I will put you down as someone who really hates Israel. I understand it. And that is your right. And by the way, I might disagree with you strongly but I don’t think your an anti-semite for hating Israel. And I do believe you when you say you would hate it just as much if it was Luthern.

I wish you would get your facts straight. The incident you speak of happened the preceding year, 1966. In June of 67 Jordan was told by Israel to stay out of the way. They did not want another military front to deal with. Israel already had her hands full dealing with Egypt to her south and Syria to the north. Why would Israel or any rational nation want to have to fight a three front war? And Jordan’s King Hussein, at Nasser’s urging, attacked Israel. Repeat after me Kenneth, Jordan attacked Israel first. There its not so hard to say, now is it? There is not one shred of evidence to indicate that Israel attacked Jordan first. You might be entitled to your own opinions but you are not entitled to make up your own facts.