Very informative review of the history-politics of the Six Day War, and the way that Israel has dealt with the territories it gained control over as a result of its victory. It’s important to differentiate between the Sinai on one hand and the territories that were part of the Mandatory Palestine on the other.
All of the land under the Mandate was set aside for a Jewish state by the League of Nations and ratified by the UN. Nothing has changed that legal status, many scholars say: Not the various partition plans that were proposed. Not the UN resolution that followed the Six Day War that called on Israel to return “territories,” but not all territories — which they have done, ceding Sinai and walking away from Gaza.
As for the area that Jordan named “the West Bank,” we should remember that, before the Six Day War, most of the world did not recognize Jordan’s claim to it. But neither was there a demand — not by the Arab states, nor even by the Palestine Liberation Organization — for a Palestinian state there. So whose claim to the West Bank is stronger than Israel’s? It can’t be the previous owners, the Ottomans, because they relinquished their claim to it after the First World War.
So why do many people believe the accusation that Israel is an illegal occupier there? It could have something to do with what was pointed out in your discussion: there are a set of rules for the Jewish state and another for the rest of the world.
Super–Fabulous discussion of Six-Day War and other Israeli wars as well as the important needs for self-defense. For me, I ran a Holocaust Education Center, Victor’s zeroing in on anti-Semitism meant a lot.
Of course he is absolutely correct. The lopsided number of anti-Israel UN resolutions alone speaks tp the vicious amount that exists.
I hope he has an excellent trip in Israel this year…and after this podcast, I am signing up for his next trip!
I wonder if the IDF is taking notes on the Russian Special Op.
Tanks and fighters are what made the IDF great.
Very informative review of the history-politics of the Six Day War, and the way that Israel has dealt with the territories it gained control over as a result of its victory. It’s important to differentiate between the Sinai on one hand and the territories that were part of the Mandatory Palestine on the other.
All of the land under the Mandate was set aside for a Jewish state by the League of Nations and ratified by the UN. Nothing has changed that legal status, many scholars say: Not the various partition plans that were proposed. Not the UN resolution that followed the Six Day War that called on Israel to return “territories,” but not all territories — which they have done, ceding Sinai and walking away from Gaza.
As for the area that Jordan named “the West Bank,” we should remember that, before the Six Day War, most of the world did not recognize Jordan’s claim to it. But neither was there a demand — not by the Arab states, nor even by the Palestine Liberation Organization — for a Palestinian state there. So whose claim to the West Bank is stronger than Israel’s? It can’t be the previous owners, the Ottomans, because they relinquished their claim to it after the First World War.
So why do many people believe the accusation that Israel is an illegal occupier there? It could have something to do with what was pointed out in your discussion: there are a set of rules for the Jewish state and another for the rest of the world.
This is not to mention taking territory as buffer after winning a defensive war.
Sat in Baumholder Germany on alert preparing to
deployed to Sinai with 1/39th Inf Regt. Never got to go-Israel took care of business
Super–Fabulous discussion of Six-Day War and other Israeli wars as well as the important needs for self-defense. For me, I ran a Holocaust Education Center, Victor’s zeroing in on anti-Semitism meant a lot.
Of course he is absolutely correct. The lopsided number of anti-Israel UN resolutions alone speaks tp the vicious amount that exists.
I hope he has an excellent trip in Israel this year…and after this podcast, I am signing up for his next trip!
But he did say he didn’t understand why Israel is treated so differently. That’s a different discussion altogether.
Of course it is because a Jewish state came in; the Arabs were not troubled by a Jordanian occupation.