Six-Day War

The Challenge of Sovereignty

On the eve of Israel's independence, David Ben-Gurion sat alone, questioning whether a people so long accustomed to being the victims of sovereign power could take responsibility for themselves.

On Silence

Eschewing Jewish expressions of mourning, Israel's founding generations shaped a national ethos of silence and self-restraint, which found expression in the words of poet David Shimoni: “Don’t mourn, don’t cry/ at a time like this./ Don’t lower your head,/ Work! Work!”

Leibowitz at 110

A scientist, a philosopher, and a sharp-tongued public intellectual, Yeshayahu Leibowitz was an oracle for some, a crank to others.  Two decades since his death, his ideas remain influential on Israeli society.

Justice in a Gray World

The Law In These Parts, a new documentary that places the blame for Palestinian woes on Israel's military lawyers, exhibits scant awareness of history—and limited knowledge of law.

Partition, Then and Now

Since the beginning of the Zionist project, the partition of the land into two states has never found enthusiastic support among either Jews or Arabs.

The Soul of the Sabra

For those who have been taught—by Peter Beinart or some other recent chronicler of Israel’s history—that Zionism only began to go awry after 1967, Patrick Tyler’s new book might come as a shock.  Israel’s aggressive territorial ambitions didn’t emerge after the Six-Day War, Tyler argues, but antedated that (to his mind) avoidable conflict by more than a decade. 

What are Israel’s Rights in Judea and Samaria? Two Views

Two differing views of a controversial report on the legality of Jewish settlements in territories seized in the Six-Day War.

The Six-Day War: Day Six

After five days spent battling Arab forces, Israel now faced a new opponent: time. With the Egyptians and Jordanians out of the war, and the Syrians having agreed to a ceasefire, the Security Council was becoming restless.

The Six-Day War: Day Five

Once Dayan decided against a limited attack in the Golan and opted instead to take the entire Heights, Israel's air force pounded the Syrians.  The Syrians had supposed the Israelis to be tired and intimidated by their incessant shelling . . . 

Day Four: “Attack! Attack!”

On June 1, 1967, when Prime Minister Levi Eshkol yielded to public pressure and turned over the portfolio of defense minister to former IDF chief of staff Moshe Dayan, the mood in Israel changed overnight.