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1967 Six-Day War And France's Presence On Israel

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In my view, the 1967 Six- Day War and the resultant Israeli occupation caused a decisive shift in European-Israeli relations. Below, I will argue how the Soviet Union, Germany, and France stance on Israel shifted.

The Soviet Union
The Soviet Union had strong military connection with the Arab countries. It even fabricated tensions by claiming the existence of threat of war (Sachar, 171). The Soviet Union had been anti-Zionistic even before the establishment of the state of Israel. It insisted that the aim of Zionism was not establishing a Jewish state, but perpetuation of the British mandatory regime in the land of Palestine(Sachar, 71-72). This strategic opposition to British colonialism continued to be a key factor of the Soviet’s policy …show more content…

The Soviet Union had cut off the diplomatic relations with Israel just after the war broke out, accusing Israel of “criminal aggression” (Sachar, 179), regarding its pre-emptive attack as the cause of the war . In the Soviet Union and many countries under Soviet political influence in the East Europe, anti-Israeli mood gained power, based on the existing “anti-Zionism.” (Sachar, 185) Not only that, the Soviet Union intensified rearmament program for Egypt and Syria. In addition to the delivery of tanks, air fighters, and other military equipment, the Soviet Union sent military personnel to Egypt in order to train the Egyptian armed forces, and also completed the task of constructing a defense line along the western length of the Suez Canal (Sachar, 185-186). This military assistance led to the initial success of Egypt in the Yom Kippur …show more content…

It seems that this war was a turning point for the Germany’s stance on Israel. In reality, as German Foreign minister Brandt said, Germany shifted to “neutrality” and “normality” in its relationship with Israel (Wolffsohn, 28-29). Although the German civil society responded to this war with huge solicitude to Israeli people, the nonintervention policy of the government implied indifference (Sachar, 224). As the German government gradually moved to a “balanced” policy in the Middle East, the German civil society, especially younger generation, were more sympathized with the victims of the ongoing conflict – Palestinians (Sachar,

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