The Six-Day War, Yom Kippur, and Camp David: The Arab-Israeli Conflict and Its Unresolved Wounds

Now we turn our course to the Middle East, that endlessly bleeding wound, and the Arab-Israeli wars. But before diving into our historical notes, we need to pause and underline a bitter reality. History books often dress these events up with strategies, borders, and names like the “Six-Day War,” detailing who occupied where, but they rarely mention those who paid the real price. Unfortunately, nothing has changed from yesterday to today. I cannot in good conscience write these lines without remembering the innocent Palestinians who have lost their lives in the ruthless genocide that has spanned decades since those days and continues right before the eyes of the world today. Sadly, while great powers play chess for their own interests on the world stage, the innocent always foot the bill. Look at how events unfolded in 1967 and how the foundations of this oppression were laid…

The 1967 Arab-Israeli War (The Six-Day War)

The pressure exerted by Israel on the refugees displaced after the 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli War, and the subsequent legitimate struggle initiated by the Palestinians, kept tensions constantly high in the region. The following key events paved the way to the Six-Day War:

The Samu Massacre: On November 13, 1966, an Israeli unit composed of tanks and armored vehicles crossed the Jordanian border, attacking the village of Samu, which had a population of 4,000, causing massive destruction and slaughter.

Aerial Clashes: On April 7, 1967, Syrian planes responded to an Israeli air strike on Syrian artillery units, resulting in 6 Syrian jets being shot down.

The capture of Sinai. 5-6 June 1967

The Course and Results of the War:

June 5, 1967: The war officially began with the offensive of Israeli troops. In the initial phase, Israel maintained a defensive posture against Jordan and Syria while launching a massive attack on Egypt.

Israeli Advance: Following the defeat of Egypt and the capture of the region up to the Suez Canal, the Israeli army turned its focus to Syria and Jordan, seizing the strategically vital Golan Heights from Syria.

Ceasefire: Hostilities ceased following a “ceasefire” call by the United Nations on June 10, 1967. By the end of the war, Israel had expanded its occupation in the region by extending its territories all the way to the Suez Canal.

Following this war, Soviet Russia, which had settled in the Middle East to supply military equipment and train personnel for Arab countries, began establishing naval bases in the Mediterranean. This Soviet manoeuvre affected Mediterranean sovereignty and security, which were of vital importance to NATO and Türkiye.

The capture of Sinai. 7–8 June 1967

The 1973 Arab-Israeli War (Yom Kippur War)

Having pinned their hopes on the UN and US-USSR negotiations after the 1967-1968 War, the Arab states rapidly embarked on rearmament activities when they could not achieve their desired outcomes. United in the belief that the occupied Arab lands could only be liberated through an all-out struggle, Egypt and Syria planned to launch a joint military operation against Israel.

The offensive by the Egyptian and Syrian armies began on October 6, 1973, on the day Israel was celebrating its holy day (Yom Kippur). Israel first concentrated on the Syrian front; after neutralizing the Syrian army, it turned towards Egypt and successfully landed troops west of the Suez Canal.

With the arrival of the UN Peacekeeping Force on October 26, Israel complied with the ceasefire. The USSR’s announcement that it would send troops to the region was highly influential in Israel's decision.

The Yom Kippur War made Israel significantly more dependent on the US in military, diplomatic, and economic spheres than before.

As a result of the “Shuttle Diplomacy” conducted by US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the Sinai Agreement was signed on January 18, 1974. With this treaty, Israel withdrew from a portion of the Sinai Peninsula.

Meanwhile, the oil embargo, which began immediately after the war, was spearheaded by Saudi Arabia and targeted Western countries supporting Israel. It lasted until March 1974. As a result of this embargo, oil prices skyrocketed globally, leading to a massive worldwide gasoline and energy shortage (the 1973 Oil Crisis).

The Jordan salient, 5–7 June.

The Camp David Accords (Israel & Egypt) (September 17, 1978)

Following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger initiated “shuttle diplomacy” between Egypt and Israel. The product of this prolonged diplomatic traffic was the Camp David Accords, signed on September 17, 1978.

Historical Shift and Key Provisions:

According to the agreement, Israel would withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula, which it had occupied during the 1967-1968 wars, and in return, Egypt would officially recognize Israel and establish diplomatic relations.

Crucial Note: With this treaty, for the first time, an Arab state (Egypt) officially recognized Israel and legitimized its existence on the occupied territories.

The Issue of Palestine, Gaza, and the West Bank: The agreement failed to bring complete clarity to the core bleeding wound, the fate of the Gaza and West Bank regions (and the Palestinians), essentially kicking the can down the road. It only envisioned the following steps to establish an autonomous administration within 5 years:

Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank would be granted autonomy for a period of 5 years.

During this autonomy period, Israel would reduce its troop levels in these two territories.

Starting from the third year of the autonomy period, negotiations would be held for an agreement to determine the final status of the West Bank and Gaza.

On paper, this agreement was to recognize the “legitimate rights” and “just demands” of the Palestinian people; during this period, peace negotiations between Israel and Jordan, as well as arrangements to ensure Israel’s security, were to be made.

The Battle of Golan Heights, 9–10 June.

The Arab Reaction and the 1979 Peace Treaty

As expected, Arab countries initially reacted strongly against the Camp David Accords and decided to sever bilateral relations with Egypt. Although the “Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty,” framed within the Camp David Accords, could not be signed within the planned timeframe due to various crises, it was ultimately signed in Washington on March 26, 1979. This treaty, which drew the current Israel-Egypt borders based on mutual respect for territorial integrity and independence, guaranteed Israel's security in the south while causing Egypt to completely break away from the Arab world.

The Aftermath and Harsh Realities on the Ground:

When economic aid from Arab countries to Egypt was cut off, the US stepped in and provided substantial economic assistance to Egypt. Israel, complying with the treaty, completely withdrew from the Sinai on April 27, 1982.

These developments fuelled anti-US sentiment in the Middle East to a peak and pushed regional countries like Syria closer to the USSR.

Ultimately, these so-called “peace” agreements failed to achieve their purpose and only served to increase the oppression of Palestinians and tension in the region, as Israel continuously built Jewish settlements in the West Bank (where autonomy had been promised) in defiance of international law, declared Jerusalem its capital, and announced the annexation of the Golan Heights.

With this, we wrap up the Arab-Israeli conflicts in the Middle East and the painful, so-called peace process that began with the Camp David Accords. As we have seen, signatures penned at the negotiation table and borders drawn by great powers for their own interests were not enough to stop the bloodshed on the ground; rather, they further complicated the regional balance of power and the tragedy of the Palestinian people.

Now, we are closing this long block and transitioning to another dark dimension that shaped the fate of the Middle East: the “energy crises and regime wars.” In our next post, we will cover the following crucial topics respectively: OPEC and the 1973 Oil Crisis, which shook the entire world, followed by the Regime Change in Iraq and the rise of the Ba’ath Party, and finally, the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), a relentless conflict that dragged the region into years of devastation.

The Détente Era: Ping-Pong Diplomacy, SALT, and the Helsinki Accords

We have covered World War I, World War II, and left the Cold War behind; we are now slowly approaching the present day. We will begin this block with the meaning, origins, and emergence of the Détente period. After briefly discussing the effects of this era, we will touch upon America's visit to Beijing, namely Ping-Pong Diplomacy, followed by the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. Finally, we will complete this section with the Helsinki Final Act.

The Détente period refers to a historical era during the Cold War when conflict and tension in East-West relations decreased. We can also consider this period as a result of contemporary developments, often referred to as the “age of negotiations.” After the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US and the Soviets stepping back from the brink of a nuclear war pushed both states to pursue a tension-reducing and softer policy. Accordingly, after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, both states stepped back from the brink and gradually shifted toward a softer policy, with the SALT I talks in 1969 widely accepted as the actual beginning of the Détente period. In this context, the transition from conventional weapons to nuclear weapons was a significant factor in the emergence of this policy. (All kinds of classic weapons used by land, sea, and air forces, excluding nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, are referred to as conventional weapons.)

Leonid Brezhnev (left), Viktor Sukhodrev (center), and Richard Nixon (right) during Brezhnev's 1973 visit to Washington

Now we move on to America’s visit to Beijing, namely Ping-Pong Diplomacy. China’s foreign policy progressed along the lines of cooperating with Third World countries. As a matter of fact, China was under the threat of America in the south, and the Soviets in the north and northwest. America wanted to determine its security strategy against the increasing Soviet threat and use China against Soviet Russia. The visit by President Nixon’s National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger to China in 1971 was the first step in the normalization of relations between the two countries. President Nixon’s visit between February 21-28, 1972, took place in an environment where there were no diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The name “Ping-Pong Diplomacy” comes from an unexpected moment: in April 1971, an American table tennis player accidentally boarded the Chinese team’s bus at the World Table Tennis Championships in Japan. This small, accidental encounter opened the door to an invitation, and ultimately, to Nixon’s historic visit to Beijing.

In 1963, the “Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty” was signed in Moscow among America, the Soviet Union, and Britain. However, since the states actually just wanted to buy time, they continued their arms race in the nuclear field without slowing down even after this treaty. The SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks), which began in Helsinki in 1969, was an important milestone in limiting nuclear weapons. In these talks, it was decided to limit only defensive missiles. With this step, the year 1969 is widely accepted as the actual beginning of the Détente period. Finally, the SALT II Treaty was signed between the US and the USSR in 1979. However, because the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in the same year, the US Congress did not ratify this treaty, and it remained solely on paper.

The front page of the Helsinki Accords

We are now at the Helsinki Final Act section. Upon entering the détente process in relations between the blocs, Eastern Bloc countries proposed convening a conference to strengthen security and cooperation in Europe. Following the SALT I Treaty, all European states, along with the US and Canada, gathered in Helsinki for the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). As a result of long negotiations, the final document encompassing fundamental peace and cooperation in international relations, namely the Helsinki Final Act, was signed on August 1, 1975. This document included vital issues such as refraining from the use of force, respect for sovereignty, peaceful settlement of disputes, cooperation among states, non-intervention in internal affairs, and respect for human rights.

With this, we have introduced the Détente period and summarized the developments centered around the US and the Soviets. In the second part, meaning our next block, we will transition to the conflicts of the Détente period. As we cover the final phases of the nuclear arms race and the end of the Cold War, we will also discuss the economic developments, socio-cultural events, and all the other dynamics of the Cold War era.