>Six Day War Part 5

>

Egypt was run out of Sinai, Jordan was beaten, and Syria remained, yet Israel was unsure what action should be taken against the northern front. At first, Moshe Dayan refused any action, claiming too many lives would be lost. He thought 30,000 would be lost in a frontal attack against the well-defended Golan Heights. In an ironic twist, Syria was also unsure about attacking Israel. Egypt, once again, sent falsified reports claiming clear victories against Israel in Sinai. Remaining cautious, Syria entered the war on June 5, by shelling northern Israel.

The 75,000 men Syria had positioned on Israel’s border were not sent into Israel, because it had become apparent that Egypt was not victorious. The first instance that revealed Egypt’s false reports was the Syrian Air Force being overpowered by the Israeli Air Force. Syria, because it was under the impression that the IAF was overwhelmed, launched air strikes against Israel. Once the IAF returned from Sinai, it launched a retaliatory strike against Syria, and destroyed 2/3 of Syria’s planes. The remaining third fled to extreme outlying positions in fear, and were never used again. Syria embittered, but cautious, continued shelling northern Israel from the Golan Heights.

As Nasser was defeated, and the Jordanian Army pushed out of the West Bank, Israel’s Central Command debated the importance of the Golan Heights. This region is mountainous with many streams, and was well fortified with an extensive network of dug-in guns, much like the Maginot Line in France. Israel believed the upward climb to such a defensible region was suicidal. It was also believed that the Soviet Union was planning an attack in response to Israel’s now dominant military. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara later revealed that the United States had maneuvered the Sixth Fleet into the Eastern Mediterranean for such fears. This seemingly innocuous action, as both McNamara and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin admitted, almost made the Cold War “Hot”; however, the Sixth Fleet turned around, and the Soviet Union remained idle. By June 7 intelligence reports from the Mossad, Israel’s covert intelligence agency, revealed disunity, panic, and low morale throughout the Syrian army. These reports accompanied with the UN’s imminent call for a cease fire, which Nasser was imploring Syria to accept, and Israeli opinion that Syria must be punish for her actions, changed Moshe Dayan’s early command to not invade Syria.

Beginning June 9, Israel pushed northward with Operation Hammer. Syria immediately responded on the world scene claiming that they were abiding by a cease-fire, and Israel was breaking the agreement. Events unfolded rapidly, as Syria was found culpable and duplicitous, since it was still bombarding Israel, as well as creating false reports that Israel was bombing Cairo and Damascus. Israel pushed onward. Four brigades were sent, including one of Peled’s brigades used in the West Bank. With terrain proving to be Israel’s biggest foe, the IAF could only carry out limited strikes, because Syrian forces were dug into the ground so well. Lack of road combined with the aforementioned terrain also made moving and supporting an armored brigade difficult. What proved decisive was the exacting Mossad reports, detailing Syrian battle positions. With such knowledge, the IDF knew where and when to attack. Israeli ubiquity created fear in Syrian officers, who fled the scene, leaving ranks of soldiers confused. When Israeli forces invaded Syrian fortifications, the weapons used gave the IDF an advantage as well. Israel used Uzi’s, which are designed for close combat such as was happening in the Golan Heights. Syrians were using AK-47’s, used for open field combat, no match for the Israeli Uzi’s in close combat. Syrian forces retreated rapidly.

With Syrian ranks offering no resistance, Israel pushed beyond what should have been the impregnable Golan Heights by nightfall June 9. Reinforcements could now be sent to replace the front lines. Shockingly, Israel’s greatest disaster in the war occurred during this ostensibly easy advance, when one of the replacement brigades, Israel’s 8^th Armored, took a wrong turn and was ambushed. 24 of 26 tanks were destroyed and 13 men were killed. Regardless, the next morning Israel’s Central and Northern units organized a right and left hook into the plateau. Israel’s advance so no resistance. The Syrian Army simply vanished, allowing Israel to move along the “Purple Line”, a line agreed upon for the cease fire. Syria, craving a cease fire, reported to the United Nations fabricating an early report stating that Quneitra fell three hours before Israel invaded. Damascus radio aired the false claim, and the army heard it. Such foolishness destroyed Syrian morale, and caused their hasty retreat, allowing for such facile IDF advancement in the face of Syrian futility.