EIGHTEEN
War and the Quest for Peace
On 5 June 1967 Israel launched a series of preemptive air strikes against its
hostile Arab neighbors. Its consequent victory over Egypt, Syria, and Jor¬
dan took only six days. It refuted the notion, common after 1956, that the
Jewish state could not defeat the Arabs without Western allies. It exploded
the myth that "unity of goals" among the Arab states would enable them
to defeat Israel and proved that the Israel Defense Force (IDF) had at¬
tained high levels of skill, valor, and coordination in order to ensure the
country's survival.
It also created a new myth, shared by supporters and enemies of the Jew¬
ish state, that Israel was invincible. This myth lasted until October 1973,
when another war, begun by Egypt and Syria, showed that an Arab army
could exercise courage and skill to achieve limited success against Israel's
military might. This October (or Yom Kippur) War was the most intensely
fought, the costliest in lives and equipment, and the greatest threat to world
peace of any war waged between the Arabs and Israel up to that time. It also
set off a fourfold increase in the price of oil and nearly sparked a military
showdown between the superpowers. Its aftermath enlarged the US role in
trying to resolve the conflict. At first these attempts barely nudged Israel
and the Arabs toward a settlement, but the peace process gained momen¬
tum through a series of interim agreements. Finally, Egypt's President An¬
war al-Sadat, the only leader willing to take a significant risk for peace,
broke the impasse in November 1977 with a dramatic flight to Jerusalem. A
flurry of peace conferences and high-level meetings ensued. The end result
was the Camp David Accords, followed by an Egyptian-Israeli treaty in
March 1979. But there was no comprehensive peace.
One of the overarching themes of Middle East history between 1967 and
1979 was the Arab-Israeli conflict. More than ever before, it held center
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