Quote:
Originally posted by Mojo_PeiPei
The six day war was actually "started by Israel, one could call it a pre-emptive strike of sorts. Leading up to the war Egypt/Syria/Jordan were trying to provoke a fight, as a result Israel was in a constant red alert stage for several months. You raise good questions about the intentions and actions of the Arab countries though, it seems that they have never acted with the Palestinians in mind.
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I have a quibble with this. Israel may have fired the first shot but they did not start the 1967 war.
Like you say, Egypt was threatening to push the Jews into the sea and preparing for what Nasser called the ultimate battle.
He also demanded that UN troops (UNEF) leave their Suez canal positions (they did) and amassed troops in their place. On top of this, Egypt also illegally blocked Israel's access to the Straits of Tiran, Israel's only point of access to oil. By doing this, Nasser went against the UN's Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone and provided casus belli.
Israel fired the first shot but Egypt started the war.