50 Fun Facts About Six-Day War

On which dates in 1967 was the Six-Day War fought?

Egypt and Jordan accepted a ceasefire on 8 June, Syria on 9 June, and it was signed with Israel on 11 June.

From which country did Israel capture the Golan Heights in 1967?

Syria joined the fighting on the fifth day by shelling Israeli positions in the north.

The Gaza Strip was captured in 1967 from which country?

Egypt also lost the Sinai Peninsula; Jordan lost the West Bank including East Jerusalem.

Nasser's closure of which waterway in May 1967 did Israel regard as a casus belli?

The straits give access to Eilat; Lyndon Johnson later called the closure the single act of folly most responsible for the war.

What was the codename of Israel's opening air strike on 5 June 1967?

In Hebrew it was Moked; all but 12 of nearly 200 operational jets took part.

Which Egyptian president ordered the UN Emergency Force out of Sinai in May 1967?

He resigned in shame after the defeat but was reinstated after protests across Egypt.

Roughly how many Arab fatalities did the war cause, against fewer than 1,000 Israeli?

Twenty Israeli civilians died in air strikes on Jerusalem and 15 UN peacekeepers were killed in the Sinai.

How many US personnel died when Israeli forces mistakenly attacked the USS Liberty?

The electronic intelligence ship was 13 nautical miles off Arish; Israel apologised and paid compensation.

Israel said it had mistaken the USS Liberty for which Egyptian vessel?

The attack killed 34 sailors and wounded 171; compensation was paid to victims and to the US.

For how many years did Egypt close the Suez Canal after the war?

Ships trapped inside became known as the Yellow Fleet; the canal reopened in 1975.

Which country fed Nasser false reports in May 1967 that Israel was massing on the Syrian border?

Nasser began moving troops into the Sinai on 16 May and expelled UNEF three days later.

King Hussein mocked Nasser for 'hiding behind UNEF skirts' after an Israeli raid on which village?

The November 1966 raid answered a PLO mine attack that killed three.

Jordan signed a defence pact with Egypt on which date, a week before the war?

Iraq agreed the next day to send troops and armour into Jordan.

Israeli crews could turn a jet around for how many sorties a day, against one or two for Arabs?

The tempo let the IAF send wave after wave at Egyptian airfields and fuelled Arab beliefs that foreign air forces had helped.

Israel's own pre-war estimate of how long victory would take was what, versus the US's 7–10?

British estimates backed the American view.

Jordan's small air force flew 24 of which British-made fighter?

Israelis rated it roughly on par with their best plane, the French Mirage III.

Volunteer pilots from which country's air force flew for the Arab side and shot down Israeli planes?

Saiful Azam was the best-known of them; Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia sent aircraft.

Israel's 1967 air force was composed principally of aircraft from which country?

Its armour was mostly British and American; the Uzi submachine gun was home-grown.

Which 30 Egyptian bombers worried Israel most before the war, and were all destroyed on day one?

In total 338 Egyptian aircraft were destroyed and 100 pilots killed, for 19 Israeli planes lost.

Egypt shut down its air defences on 5 June fearing rebels would shoot down a plane carrying whom?

Abdel Hakim Amer was flying to the Sinai; the Israelis came in below radar cover anyway.

Which Egyptian airfield's runway was deliberately spared so Israel could use it after the war?

The Israelis used tarmac-shredding penetration bombs, developed with France, on the others.

Which Israeli general's division assaulted the 'Rafah Gap' on the first morning?

His lead brigade reached the Khan Yunis railway junction in a little over four hours.

Ariel Sharon's division assaulted which heavily fortified Sinai position on 6 June?

Israeli guns fired some 6,000 shells in under 20 minutes, the most concentrated barrage in Israel's history.

At Um-Katef, Israeli battalions each lit flashlights of a different colour to prevent what?

Half of Danny Matt's helicopters still got lost and never found the battlefield.

Which Israeli defence minister had forbidden entry into the Gaza Strip, an order Rabin overrode?

Rabin sent in the 11th Mechanized Brigade after Palestinian positions fired on Negev settlements.

Who was IDF Chief of Staff during the war?

He overrode Dayan on Gaza and judged a direct landing at Sharm el-Sheikh too risky.

Hearing Abu-Ageila had fallen, which Egyptian field marshal ordered a general retreat from Sinai?

No detailed instructions were given on how to withdraw, and the order effectively meant Egypt's defeat.

Which Israeli prime minister promised King Hussein he would not attack if Jordan stayed out?

The message went via UN General Odd Bull; Hussein replied that 'the die was cast'.

How did King Hussein reply to Israel's offer to leave Jordan alone on 5 June?

Jordanian howitzers then began a 6,000-shell barrage on Israeli Jerusalem.

Which Egyptian general arrived in Amman on 1 June to take control of the Jordanian military?

On 6 June he relayed Hussein's two choices to Cairo: a political ceasefire or vacating the West Bank that night.

Who commanded the 55th Paratroopers Brigade that fought through Jerusalem to the Old City?

His brigade was summoned from the Sinai front; he personally led the battalion that broke into the Old City.

The bloodiest Jerusalem battle, fought hand-to-hand in trenches for four hours, took which position?

All Israeli officers but two company commanders were killed; 36 Israelis and 71 Jordanians died.

Dayan finally ordered the capture of the Old City on 7 June after hearing that what was imminent?

He acted without cabinet clearance; two paratroop battalions first took Augusta-Victoria Hill.

David Rubinger's famous photo shows three Israeli paratroopers gazing at what?

Taken twenty minutes after the capture, it became a defining image; Rubinger had to hand his negatives to the government.

Israeli sappers blew up the Abdullah and Hussein bridges over which waterway?

They used captured Jordanian mortar shells; Harel Brigade elements crossed briefly but pulled back under US pressure.

Jordan's M48 Pattons proved vulnerable at short range because of what feature?

Even Israeli-modified Shermans could exploit it, and air attacks did the rest at Jenin and Tel al-Ful.

Syria's army of 75,000 was described by David Lesch as badly prepared mainly because of what?

Officers often retreated from danger, leaving their men confused in the Golan bunkers.

Who gave the order to attack the Golan Heights on 9 June without government authorisation?

Syria had announced acceptance of a ceasefire at 3 a.m.; he gave the go-ahead at 7 a.m.

The western side of the Golan Heights rises about how far above the Sea of Galilee?

Military opinion warned that an uphill assault on fortified positions would be extremely costly.

Which Israeli infantry unit attacked thirteen Syrian positions including Tel Fakhr?

Navigational errors put the Israelis under Syrian guns; the seven-hour battle cost 31 Israeli and 62 Syrian dead.

Damascus Radio undercut its own army by announcing the fall of which Golan city three hours early?

The premature surrender report destroyed the morale of Syrian troops left in the Golan.

Which close-combat weapon gave Israelis the upper hand inside Syrian bunkers on the Golan?

The home-designed submachine gun was one of the few Israeli-made weapons in a largely Western-armed force.

The Israeli air force was only partially useful on the Golan because of what?

Airstrikes knocked out artillery and storehouses but did not seriously damage Syrian bunkers and trenches.

Roughly how many Palestinians fled or were expelled from the West Bank as a result of the war?

Around 100,000 Syrians left the Golan Heights in the same period.

The September 1967 Arab summit that resolved 'no peace, no recognition, no negotiation' met where?

Two months later Egypt and Jordan nonetheless accepted UN Resolution 242.

Which UN Security Council text of November 1967 set out the 'land for peace' formula?

It called for Israeli withdrawal 'from territories occupied' and the end of all states of belligerency.

Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt after which 1978 agreement?

The staged withdrawal was completed in 1982; Israel and Jordan made peace in 1994.

Israel and Jordan signed their peace treaty in which year?

Jordan and Egypt eventually dropped their claims to the West Bank and Gaza respectively.

Which movement launched a large settlement drive in the occupied territories after 1967?

Israeli settlements in Gaza were evacuated in August 2005; hundreds of thousands of settlers remain in the West Bank.

Egyptian state radio falsely claimed how many Israeli planes had been downed on the first day?

In reality the Egyptian Air Force made practically no appearance for the rest of the war.