There are moments in the history of nations when a few short days shape reality for generations. Such was June 5, 1967. Fifty-nine years ago today, the Six Day War began, a conflict that lasted only six days yet fundamentally transformed Israel’s security, diplomatic standing, and national identity.
As the Arab world marks the “Day of the Setback” (Naksa), commemorating the Arab defeat in the Six Day War, it is worth remembering the reality that preceded the conflict. Israel did not go to war out of a desire to expand its borders but out of the need to secure its very existence.
Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser expelled UN peacekeeping forces from Sinai, deployed large military formations to the peninsula, closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, and established a military front with Syria and Jordan. At the same time, repeated declarations calling for the destruction of Israel echoed throughout the Arab world.
Israel fully understood the significance of these developments. A country only a few miles wide at its narrowest point stood facing a regional coalition threatening its existence. For a generation that had established the state in the aftermath of exile and the Holocaust, this was not merely another border dispute. It was a historic test of the Jewish people’s ability to defend its sovereignty.
In the weeks leading up to the war, diplomatic efforts were made to avoid confrontation. Yet when it became clear that the threat was not receding and that freedom of navigation, national security, and Israeli deterrence were all at risk, Israel made a fateful strategic decision. On June 5, it launched Operation Focus, during which the Israel Air Force destroyed the bulk of the Egyptian Air Force within hours and later struck the Syrian and Jordanian air forces as well. In a matter of hours, the strategic balance of the conflict was transformed, giving Israel a decisive advantage.
Within just six days, Israel achieved an unprecedented strategic reversal. Yet the significance of the victory extended far beyond the battlefield.
The Six Day War provided Israel with two assets of immense historical and national importance: strategic depth and a renewed connection to the centers of Jewish identity.
From a security perspective, Israel ceased to be a narrow and vulnerable state. The 1949 armistice lines had left the country exposed and difficult to defend. Following the war, the strategic reality changed dramatically. Control of the Golan Heights, the Jordan Valley, Judea and Samaria, Gaza, and the Sinai Peninsula created strategic depth that had not previously existed and pushed threats farther from Israel’s population centers.
Beyond security: a return to Jewish history
Alongside its security significance, the war carried a deeper meaning: the return of the Jewish people to the heart of their history.
For 19 years, Jews had been denied access to the Old City of Jerusalem, the Western Wall, and many of their holiest sites. Judea and Samaria, the cradle of Jewish civilization, remained disconnected from the State of Israel. Hebron, Shechem (Nablus), Beit El, Shiloh, and the Old City of Jerusalem were beyond the reach of Jews in their own state.
The Six Day War changed that reality.
When the words “the Temple Mount is in our hands” were heard, it was not merely a military report. It was a moment in which thousands of years of Jewish prayer converged with renewed Jewish sovereignty. It marked a historic reconnection between the Jewish people and the places where their national identity was born.
The Arab world chose to describe the war as the “Naksa” – the setback. In its view, it was a continuation of the Nakba of 1948. Yet the war itself reveals an important truth: The conflict did not begin in 1967.
Even before Israel controlled the West Bank, before it returned to the Old City of Jerusalem, and before it held the Golan Heights or Gaza, Arab states sought to prevent the existence of a sovereign Jewish state in the Middle East. The dispute was never solely about borders. It was about Israel’s very existence.
The Six Day War also left an important strategic lesson that remains relevant today. A small state in a turbulent Middle East cannot ignore geography. Strategic depth, control of vital terrain, and the ability to keep threats away from population centers are not luxuries; they are fundamental components of national security.
The war demonstrated that borders are not merely lines on a map for peaceful coexistence. They directly affect a nation’s ability to defend its citizens and secure its future. The events of the Israel-Hamas War once again demonstrated the price Israel can pay when murderous terrorist organizations establish themselves along its borders.
Another lesson concerns deterrence. The crisis that led to the Six Day War did not emerge overnight. It developed through a series of escalating steps: the expulsion of UN forces from Sinai, military buildups along Israel’s borders, the closure of the Straits of Tiran, and repeated public calls for Israel’s destruction. Strategic threats rarely appear all at once. They develop gradually, and the longer they are met with hesitation or restraint, the greater the price required to remove them.
This was true with Hamas in Gaza, which spent years building terrorist infrastructure, manufacturing weapons, and openly declaring its goal of destroying Israel. It was true with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which evolved into a heavily armed regional force possessing one of the largest missile arsenals in the world. And it is true with Iran, which continues to lead the regional terror axis while advancing its nuclear ambitions, missile programs, and proxy network throughout the Middle East.
The Six Day War reminds us of a fundamental principle of statecraft and security: Deterrence is measured not only by the power a nation possesses but also by its willingness to use that power when threats are growing and red lines are crossed.
The Six Day War also demonstrated that when the Jewish people are united, determined, and prepared to defend their sovereignty, they are capable of changing the course of history. Six days were enough to restore Israel’s security, provide strategic depth, and reconnect the Jewish people with the heart of their historic homeland. This is not merely a memory from the past. It is a guide for the future. In the Middle East, peace rests on strength, sovereignty rests on security, and Israel’s future rests on its willingness to defend both.
The author is the deputy chairman of the Institute for Security Policy of Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF) and served as a policy adviser to former strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer.