I'm not sure if this has been posted here before (I'm sure it has but my search came up with nothing) but anyone heard of the six day war?

Bascially in a nutshell:

Who: Israel vs Arab States (Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria)
Start Date: June 5, 1967
End Date: June 10, 1967
Victor: Israel

Israeli Commanders:
Yitzhak Rabin,
Moshe Dayan,
Uzi Narkiss,
Israel Tal,
Ariel Sharon

Arab States Commanders:
Abdel Hakim Amer,
Abdul Munim Riad,
Zaid ibn Shaker,
Hafez al-Assad

Israeli Strength:
50,000 troops (264,000 including mobilized reservists); 197 combat aircraft

Arab States Strength:
Egypt 150,000 troops; Syria 75,000; Jordan 55,000; 812 combat aircraft

Israeli Casualties:
779 killed, 2,563 wounded, 15 prisoners (official casualties)

Arab States Casualties:
21,000 killed, 45,000 wounded, 6,000 prisoners (estimates)

A pretty decisive victory for Israel. Their air force took out most of the enemies air forces and they basically dominated the air which turned the war to their favour and it lasted 6 days before a cease fire was signed.

Israel's territory grew by a factor of 3, including about one million Arabs placed under Israel's direct control in the newly captured territories. Israel's strategic depth grew to at least 300 kilometers in the south, 60 kilometers in the east and 20 kilometers of extremely rugged terrain in the north.

All information here from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_day_war)

The Six Day War is a very well known war which had a number of results:

1. Ended the practical participation of Jordan as a "confrontation state." Basically, King Hussein learned his lesson.

2. Israel acquired the West Bank and Gaza with consequences still being felt today.

3. Caused Egypt to completely rethink their military strategy and all aspects of their military establishment with dire consequences for Israel in 1973.

4. Enhanced the security posture of Israel through acquisition of the Golan Heights and by pushing (for a time) the border with Egypt to the Suez Canal.

5. Caused the Israelis to develop overconfidence regarding the military capabilities of the Arab states.

Caused the Israelis to develop overconfidence regarding the military capabilities of the Arab states.
Well they DID beat the Arab world at their own game. Israel is a case of Paraguay gone right. Their pilots are some of the best in the world. In tank school for the US Army, tank crews, as they learn distance identification, are taught to fear three things: 1) aircraft, especially the Hind gunship 2) the T-95 Russian MBT and 3) the Israeli Merkava MBT.

Well they DID beat the Arab world at their own game.

The October War (or Yom Kippur War) in 1973 was a very close thing. There are several excellent treatments on the the overconfidence and the pre-war intelligence failures available. You can also argue whether either Operation Peace for Galilee in 1982 or the continuing Palestinian problems have been "victories."

Its true that the Israeli military developed a superiority complex after the 6 day war. During Yom Kippur the Egyptians pulled off a near perfect canal crossing followed by shooting the first Israeli counter attacks to pieces due to deploying man-portable A/T missiles and the extensive use of SAM batteries on the western bank of the canal. On the Golan front Israel came close to being overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers and were only saved by the bravery of individuals buying enough time for the reserves to arrive.

Regardless of how good Israel is/was (and she certainly had arguably the most battle hardened army in the world in 1973) it doesn't escape the fact that like most sucessful armies she fell into the trap of underestimating her opponents and overestimating the value of her chief weapons - the air and armoured forces. Generals and politicians tend to assume that the weapons and tactics they've used so sucessfully so often before will never be countered by the enemy.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=165391

Operation Badr as part of the Yom Kippur war.

Adler

Hmm... have to read that when I get home :)

The Six Day War is a very well known war which had a number of results:

1. Ended the practical participation of Jordan as a "confrontation state." Basically, King Hussein learned his lesson.

2. Israel acquired the West Bank and Gaza with consequences still being felt today.

3. Caused Egypt to completely rethink their military strategy and all aspects of their military establishment with dire consequences for Israel in 1973.

4. Enhanced the security posture of Israel through acquisition of the Golan Heights and by pushing (for a time) the border with Egypt to the Suez Canal.

5. Caused the Israelis to develop overconfidence regarding the military capabilities of the Arab states.

Agreed on all points...
Considering that Israel was basically surrounded by enemies and they pulled off this victory, it does justify for a little superiority complex which affected them later in the years. History affects us in many ways I guess

Off topic, I always considered myself a military history bluff and when I first heard of the six day war, I started to realise how ignorant I actually am :rolleyes:

Uhmmm... oops, posted in error