War and Game

Date June 5, 1967
Location Airfields in eastern Egypt
Opponents (* winner)
*Israelis
Egyptians; Syrians; Jordanians
Commander
*Israelis Major General Mordechai Hod
Egyptians; Major General Abdel Nasr
Syrians; Jordanians
Approx. # Troops
*Israelis Nearly 200 aircraft
Egyptians; Syrians; Jordanians Nearly 450 aircraft
Importance This preemptive strike secures Israeli air supremacy and virtually decides the war at its very beginning.

The Arab-Israeli war of 1967, known to history as the Six-Day War, began on the morning of June 5, 1967. For all intents and purposes, it was over by noon on the first day as a result of the preemptive attack by the Israeli Air Force. This aerial offensive remains one of the most stunning successes in modern warfare. In a mere three hours, the Israelis achieved air superiority by destroying much of the Egyptian Air Force on the ground. Attacks against Egypt were followed by sorties against targets in Syria, Jordan, and western Iraq, thus ensuring that Israeli ground operations could go forward unimpeded.

The Six-Day War resulted from Israeli alarm over bellicose moves by the Arab states of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. Syria stepped up border clashes with Israeli forces in 1966, and Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser ordered a blockade of the Strait of Tiran, massed troops on the Egyptian-Israeli border, and secured the removal of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping troops. Syria and Jordan had also mobilized their forces, and Iraqi forces had begun moving to Jordan.

Israel had previously announced that it would go to war under any of those conditions. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was heavily outnumbered in terms of men and equipment, however. Figures vary widely, but one estimate is as follows: manpower, mobilized strength of 230,000 for Israel to 409,000 for Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq; tanks, 1,100 for Israel to 2,437 for the Arab states; artillery, 260 for Israel to 649 for the Arab states; naval vessels, 22 for Israel to 90 for the Arab states; and aircraft (all types), 354 for Israel to 969 for the Arab states. The Arab states were handicapped by not having any unified plan, however.

Israeli minister of defense Moshe Dayan, IDF chief of staff Lieutenant General Itzhak Rabin, and Premier Levi Eshkol determined that war was inevitable and decided that Israel should launch a preemptive attack. Defense against an Arab air attack would be difficult because Israel was so small that early warning systems would not provide sufficient time for Israeli fighters to scramble. Tel Aviv was 25 minutes flying time from Cairo but only 4.5 minutes from the nearest Egyptian airbase at El Arish. For whatever reason, Nasser did not believe that the Israelis would strike first, despite his announced eagerness for battle.

The Israeli air attack relied on accurate, timely, and precise intelligence information. The plan called for a first strike against Egypt, the most formidable of Israel’s opponents. IDF fighters would take off from airfields all over Israel and fly under radio silence and at low altitude to avoid radar west out over the Mediterranean, and they would then turn south to strike Egyptian airfields as simultaneously as possible. Rather than attacking at dawn, the IDF strikes were timed to coincide with the return of Egyptian pilots to base from their morning patrols, when most Egyptian pilots would be having breakfast.

The Israeli Air Force (IAF), one of the best-trained air forces in the world, was well prepared for its mission. Aircrews had been thoroughly briefed as to objectives and procedures. IAF ground crews were also highly trained and able to reduce turnaround time between missions to a minimum. The operation was daring in that it would employ almost all Israeli bomber and fighter aircraft, leaving only a dozen fighters behind to fly defensive combat air patrols.

The IAF achieved complete tactical surprise. Commanded by Major General Mordechai Hod, its aircraft went into action at 7:45 a.m. (8:45 a.m. Cairo time). One unexpected development was that Field Marshal Ali Amer, the United Arab Republic (UAR) commander in chief, and his deputy, General Mamoud Sidky, were in the air, flying from Cairo to inspect units in the Sinai, when the attacks occurred. Unable to land in the Sinai they returned to Cairo, and for 90 minutes two key UAR commanders were out of touch with their units and unable to give orders.

The first wave struck 10 Egyptian airfields, hitting all of them within 15 minutes of the scheduled time. On their final approach to the targets, the Israeli aircraft climbed to become suddenly visible on radar and induce Egyptian pilots to attempt to scramble in the hopes of catching the pilots in their aircraft on the ground. Only four Egyptian aircraft, all trainers, were in the air at the time of the first strikes, and all were shot down.

Subsequent waves of Israeli attacking aircraft, about 40 per flight, arrived at 10 minutes intervals. These met increased Egyptian opposition, mostly antiaircraft fire. Only 8 Egyptian MiGs managed to take off during the strikes, and all were shot down. In all, the IAF struck 17 major Egyptian airfields with some 500 sorties in just under three hours, destroying half of Egyptian Air Force strength. Most of the Egyptian aircraft were destroyed by accurate Israeli cannon fire, but the Israeli planes also dropped 250=, 500-, and 1,000-pound bombs. Special bombs with 365- pound warheads, developed to crack the hard-surface concrete runways, were dropped on Egyptian airfields west of the Suez Canal, but none of these were employed against the Sinai airfields, which the Israelis planned for subsequent use by their own aircraft. During the war Egypt lost a total of 286 aircraft: 30 Tupolev Tu-16 heavy bombers, 27 Ilyusian medium bombers, 12 Sukhoi Su-7 fighter bombers, 90 MiG-21 fighters, 20 MiG-19 fighters, 75 MiG-17/15 fighters, and 32 transport planes and helicopters.

Later that same day, June 5, Israeli aircraft struck Syria and Jordan. Israeli leaders had urged King Hussein of Jordan to stay out of the war. He desired to do so but was under heavy pressure to act and hoped to satisfy his allies with minimum military action short of all-out war. Jordanian 155-millimeter “Long Tom” guns therefore went into action against Tel Aviv, and Jordanian aircraft attempted to strafe a small airfield near Kfar Sirkin. The Israeli government then declared war on Jordan.

Following an Iraqi air strike on Israel, IAF aircraft also struck Iraqi air units based in the Mosul area. In all during the war, the Arabs lost a total of 390 aircraft of their prewar strength of 969 aircraft of all types (Egypt, 286 of 580; Jordan, 28 of 56; Syria, 54 of 172; Iraq, 21 of 149, and Lebanon 1 of 12). IAF losses were only 32 aircraft shot down of 354 at the beginning of the war; only 2 of these were lost in aerial combat.

With its opposing air forces largely neutralized, the IAF could turn to close air support and other missions in support of Israeli mechanized ground forces, which had begun operations in the Sinai simultaneously with the initial air attacks. Israeli’s success in the war was complete. On June 7 Israel and Jordan accepted the UN Security Council call for a cease-fire. The UN also brokered a cease-fire on June 9 between Israel and Egypt. Israel accepted immediately, while Egypt accepted the next day. A cease-fire was also concluded with Syria on June 10.

On the Israeli side the Six-Day War claimed some 800 dead, 2,440 wounded, and 16 missing or taken prisoner. Arab losses, chiefly Egyptian, were estimated at 14,300 dead, 23,800 wounded, and 10,500 missing or taken prisoner. Tank losses were 100 for Israel and 950 for the Arabs.

The war immensely increased the territory controlled by Israel. Israel now possessed all of the Sinai east of the Suez Canal from Egypt, the east bank of the Jordan River and the city of Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Whether these acquisitions would enhance or impede the chances for peace in the Middle East remained to be seen.

References Hammel, Eric. Six Days in June: How Israel Won the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. New York: Scribner, 1992. Oren, Michael. Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Rubenstein, Murray, and Richard Goldman. Shield of David: An Illustrated History of the Israeli Air Force. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1978. Van Creveld, Martin. The Sword and the Olive: A Critical History of the Israeli Defense Force. New York: Public Affairs, 1998. Weizman, Ezer. On Eagle’s Wings: The Personal Story of the Leading Commander of the Israeli Air Force. New York: Macmillan, 1976.