June 1:The PNC establishes the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
November 2:King Saud of Saudi Arabia is deposed and replaced by his half-brother
Crown Prince Faisal.
1967
May 19:At the request of Egypt, the United Nations withdraws its Emergency Force,
which has been monitoring the post–Suez crisis cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and Gulf
of Aqaba.
May 22:Egypt closes the Strait of Tiran (at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba) to
Israeli shipping.
May 29:Egyptian president Nasser tells the National Assembly that Egypt is prepared
for war against Israel. Minor skirmishes are reported between Egyptian and Israeli
forces along the Gaza Strip.
June 5:Jordan launches an artillery attack against western Jerusalem and central Israel.
In anticipation of a broader Arab attack, Israel bombs airfields in Egypt, Jordan,
and Syria, virtually eliminating those countries’ air forces. The UN Security Coun-
cil calls for a cease-fire.
June 6:Israeli ground forces capture the Gaza Strip and much of the Sinai Peninsula.
The Egyptian and Jordanian armies order retreats. In a lengthy speech to the UN
Security Council, Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban defends Israel’s preemptive
strike.
June 7:Israel captures the Old City of Jerusalem and Bethlehem and Jericho on the
West Bank. Jordan accepts the UN cease-fire.
June 8:Egypt accepts the cease-fire. Israeli warplanes attack the U.S. Navy’s Libertyin
the Mediterranean, killing at least thirty-four sailors. Israel later apologizes for what
it says was a mistake, but many continue to suspect that the attack was deliberate.
June 9:Israeli forces reach the Suez Canal and begin to push onto the Golan Heights.
Egyptian president Nasser offers his resignation, but the National Assembly refuses
to accept it.
June 10:Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria, completing its conquests of Arab
territory. Late in the day Israel and Syria accept a cease-fire, ending the war after six
days.
June 19:In a decision not made public at the time, the Israeli cabinet agrees to return
most of the territory Israel had just captured in return for peace and normal rela-
tions with its Arab neighbors. The offer will later be spurned by the Arabs and with-
drawn by Israel. In a speech in Washington, President Lyndon B. Johnson outlines
a “peace plan” for the Middle East.
June 28:Israel says it has merged the eastern and western sectors of Jerusalem under
its control.
July 26:Israeli cabinet minister Yigal Allon submits a draft plan calling for Israel to
hold onto East Jerusalem and the strategic portions of the West Bank permanently
while accepting autonomy for the Palestinians in other portions of the West Bank.
Although never officially adopted by the government, subsequent versions of the so-
called Allon Plan will become the basis for Israel’s policy of building settlements
and military posts in the territories captured from the Arabs.
September 1:Meeting in Khartoum, Arab leaders declare “three noes”: no peace with,
no recognition of, and no negotiation with Israel.
662 CHRONOLOGY OF THE MIDDLE EAST, 1914–2007