From the Six-Day War to the present

The Six-Day War, which took place in June 1967, is not only one of the most important turning points of the Palestinian issue but also marks the beginning of the Gaza problem, the final act of which we are currently witnessing with the Israel-Hamas War.

The Six-Day War is one of the most significant military achievements in history. In this war, Israel defeated a coalition consisting of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan—which possessed far more equipment and personnel than its own army—in as short a time as five days.

For Israel, the importance of this war was to cripple the external threat that endangered its existence and to acquire territories it could not obtain during its independence declared in 1948. As a result of this unexpected success, it achieved both of these goals and more.

When Israel was established following the Arab-Israeli War in 1948, the Palestinian territories that the Jews could not obtain had been annexed by neighboring Arab countries. The West Bank, which included East Jerusalem, remained in the hands of Jordan, and Gaza came under the control of Egypt. Although there was a growing Palestinian issue, the dramas and acts of violence similar to today's Gaza and Jerusalem problems did not exist at that time because Gaza and the West Bank were defined as liberated territories. Furthermore, the Pan-Arabist Arab states surrounding Israel viewed the Palestinian crisis as a temporary occupation because they were certain that they would eventually reclaim the lands Israel had gained in 1948.

This situation would change as a result of the Six-Day War. In this war, Israel captured vast territories, including Gaza and the remainder of Jerusalem, which it had not been able to obtain in 1948, thereby increasing its existing territory by three and a half times. As a result of the decisive victory Israel achieved in a very short period, everyone had to accept that the occupation was by no means temporary. From this date on, the ideology of Pan-Arabism began to be abandoned, and the Arab states that fought against Israel gave up their policies of destroying Israel to save the Palestinian Arabs in the region and turned to policies aimed at reclaiming the lands they had lost to Israel.

With the victory in the Six-Day War, Israel had proven that it had the capacity to easily deal with the enemies surrounding it and had solidified its position in the Middle East. The direct wars waged by Arab states against Israel continued until the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Israel won this war as well, successfully intimidating the surrounding Arab states, and after this date, no state dared to enter into a conventional war with Israel.

However, this series of successes neither added to Israel's security nor solved Israel's problems with the Arabs.

As a result of the 1948 War, many Palestinian Arabs remaining within Israel's borders had fled or were forcibly displaced to Gaza, the West Bank, and neighboring Arab countries. Even if this was not ideal, it was a solution. The Six-Day War, however, destroyed this solution and created a problem that remains unresolved today. Although the Arab countries surrounding Israel were relegated to a secondary threat position as a result of the Six-Day War, this vacuum was soon filled by organizations such as the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hezbollah, and later Islamic Jihad and Hamas due to the ethnic issue. In addition, the Palestinians living in the region turned their unrest into individual actions many times. The First Intifada took place in Gaza and the West Bank between 1987 and 1993, and the Second Intifada and countless small-scale uprisings occurred between 2000 and 2005.

The Israelis had easily dealt with the surrounding Arab countries in conventional warfare. However, Israel was never able to fully control either the West Bank or Gaza, and these areas have remained disputed territories since 1967. The entry of Israeli leaders (especially Sharon and Netanyahu) into the West Bank was always carried out after snipers were placed on rooftops and accompanied by numerous police. Although Israel managed to suppress the uprisings that broke out in these regions by using force, it could never destroy the spirit of independence and the mentality of resistance. Especially after the First Intifada, the unrest spreading from these regions made Israel an insecure country, increasingly distancing it from internal peace. It was never possible to maintain public order in the country without the employment of a considerable police force, and the army remained constantly on alert against attacks from within and without. This unrest is now at such a level that even among the veterans of the Six-Day War, there are Israelis who advocate for the handover of Gaza and the West Bank to the Palestinian Arabs for lasting peace and tranquility.

The ongoing Hamas-Israel War is a new page in the process that began in 1967. Israel will likely win this war as well. However, considering what has happened since 1967 and how terrible ethnic warfare is, the Hamas-Israel War does not seem to be the last war to be fought between the two nations at all.