Precisely these days, on the 56th anniversary of the end of the Six Day War, the war to which is attributed the great and warning victory of the State of Israel over its enemies, it is important to ask ourselves the difficult question, but more necessary than ever: Did we really win the war?
The Six Day War was a brilliant operational success, when in a brave operation, planned and executed with astonishing quality, the Israeli Air Force destroyed within a day most of the air forces of the Arab armies and parts of the homeland with the most sacred places were liberated. These successes raised the morale and pride of the young and weak state and of the entire Jewish people, in Israel and in the Diaspora. We proved to the whole world that we know how to fight.
But this dizzying operational success is not attributed to political achievements. vice versa. Within nine days, the State of Israel informed its enemies, through the United States, that it was ready to give up most of the territories it had occupied in exchange for peace agreements. That is, the enemies realized that Israel is afraid of another war, so much so that it is willing to return everything only in exchange for a promise not to be attacked again.
Moreover, this made our enemies realize that Jews do not respect land and are not deeply rooted in a place. This goes against the value of land in Islam which sanctifies ownership of land as a symbol of wealth, connection with God, power and connection to place. As far as our enemies are concerned, if the Jews, who have been in exile for two thousand years, are ready to immediately return to the enemy their holiest places right after they free them, they have no hold here and can be easily defeated. They may be strong in technology, but they do not believe that the land is truly theirs. In that case it’s only a matter of time and pressure until they go away.
The neighboring Arab countries refused to accept the lands back. This is for one reason - they were sure that Israel could be defeated and destroyed and free everything. In his book “The Abyss” published in 2011, Eli Avidar, then an experienced diplomat working with Muslim countries and later a member of the Knesset, explains the gap in the perception of time between Jews and Arabs, between Israel and its neighbors. He explains that the sense of time in Arab culture and Islam is fundamentally different from the Western sense of time that the State of Israel identifies with. Haste is a despicable thing and every process takes time, certainly an important process that has an essential conflict.
It is not enough to win one short battle, no matter how big and careful it is. If the enemy is not convinced that we are able and willing to fight any longer and control our land for a long time, then we have not won the battle. War is a long process. The very name “Six Day War” goes against the principle of defining war in Arab culture and human culture. Most wars in history lasted years and even decades.The war continues. Even though within Israel and with the help of external factors, elements have arisen whose stated aim is to turn the wheel back and erase the achievements of the Six Day War - Israel is getting stronger. She believes in herself more, learns from the hard mistakes of the past.
It takes time. It is impossible to expect that a people scattered and frightened for 2,000 years will return to sovereignty in a short time. It’s a process. Some of the enemies have already realized that we are winning and it is better to cooperate with us than to fight. Some still don’t. And the part that is still fighting is very dangerous and can cause great damage. It is not enough to win battles. The battle must be won. Over time.
