TP IP #15 Six Days War Context Founding of Israeli State - Zionist movement in western Russia and England; desire

for the Jewish homeland; Balfour Declarations - British domestic politics and Rothschild; Holocaust - Euro-US collective guilt breaks inertia preventing state; British trade routes impacted if Arabs upset; First 20 years--surrounded, military state including females, protective coalition/alliance formation; sense of lingering colonialism-- ; water; lack of geostrategic depth; Cold War - democratic foothold for US; Vietnam War - friction with US broad goals Decolonialization - French loss in Algeria, Arab populace in France, ... Military experience - dearth of; Organization - started with undernourished, perceived agrarians; remarkable they built this state; remarkably western form--university, capitalism, banking, US Air Force, Ideology Legitimacy - why is this not questioned more...highly political; Military effectiveness - always a function of perceived threat; they train well because they know what the threat is; finite perspective; morality becomes less important when your existence is on the line; US support: Holocaust, Cold War, lobbying, Biblical prophecy Arab militaries deigned to support regime and be symbolic rather than effective; Morality - trade space to achieve goals depending on existential perceptions; disconnect of moral "evolution" with nature of war; External strategies have roots in domestic issues (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, ..); to what extent can you overcome the internal constraints (domestic political conflict) to achieve more purely externally focused strategy? Israelis are able to form a unity government during the war (for example) Arabs Utterly disfunctional alliance - hostility, jealousy and hatred Difference between progressives/revolutionaries (Nasser) and reactionaries (B'athists) Pan-Arabism (Nasser) - Egyptian led but Syria begins to compete; UAC - active lying, highlights ideological blocks within; Hussein - playing sides; Leadership - tribe, family and incompetence! You don't want competent people who would pose danger to your authority; Lack of professional military Social and cultural effects on military Arab "street" impacts - public opinion and influence; fear of revolution; Strategic thought--Nasser knows Israel can't fight a long war...protraction is goal; coercive diplomacy; Israel knows the same--high-tempo is key;

Superpower relations Cold War construct - appeals to Moscow and Washington for reassurances; helps hold Arab coalition together (deceptive force--misperceptions); Cuban Missile Crisis--Kruschev removed, three party conflict in Moscow causing disunity of responses; 1967 is not a proxy war; Idea of waves of history overcome human agency...form of inertia... Israelis start learning how Arabs start wars and how they work; they condition to this but the war changes in 2006; Israeli Objective and end Israel has territorial gains - increased defense in depth; but settlement the requires defense, undermining defense in depth (over stretch) Threat ceases to be existential--becomes political (military and political aims diverge); Rabin wants to destory Egyptian Army; Dayan becomes the shot caller-wants territory to trade; Egyptians don't care about Gaza;