1967 in Israel - Events

Events

• 7 April – a minor Israeli-Syrian border incident escalates into a full-scale aerial battle over the Golan Heights between the Israeli Air Force and the Syrian Air Force. Israel claimed it downed 6 Syrian MiG-21s in three dogfights with no plane loses. Syria claimed it downed 5 Israel Mirages and killed at least 70 Israelis.

• 15 May – 5 June – The "Waiting period":
  • 15 May – In the midst of Israel's Independence Day celebrations, Egyptian ground forces cross the Suez Canal and enter the Sinai peninsula. This move led Israel to an emergency state, known as the "waiting period".
  • 22 May – Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser demands that the UN forces evacuate the Sinai peninsula and the Gaza Strip (who were stationed there to prevent renewed armed conflict between Israel and Egypt).
  • 23 May – President Nasser closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, blockading Israel's southern port of Eilat, and Israel's entire Red Sea coastline.
  • 30 May – Jordan and Egypt sign a defense agreement.
  • 3 June – Egypt's Commander-in-Chief issues an order for the day to his troops in Sinai which referenced the importance of "Holy War" and the reconquest of "the plundered soil of Palestine."

Six-Day War:

• 5 June – Israel launches what is widely described as a preemptive strike on Egyptian airfields and armored columns in Gaza and Sinai.
• 6 June – The Battle of Ammunition Hill takes place.
• 6 June – the Gaza strip was occupied by Israel.
• 7 June – The Old City of Jerusalem is captured by the IDF. The Jewish Quarter is liberated.
• 8 June – Israeli Air Force attack a U.S. Navy electronic intelligence vessel just outside Egypt's territorial waters in what became known as the USS Liberty incident.
• 8 June – The IDF takes of Sharm el-Sheikh and Al Qantarah El Sharqiyya.
• 9 June – The beginning of the fighting in the Golan Heights.
• 10 June – The Six Day War ends and a ceasefire is signed the following day. The territories held now by Israel expanded significantly ("The Purple Line") and included: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), Golan Heights, Sinai Peninsula and Gaza, which had been held by Jordan, Syria and Egypt, respectively. The results of the war still affect the geopolitics of the region.
• 10 June – The Mughrabi Quarter, an 800-year old neighborhood in the southeast corner of the Old City of Jerusalem, is demolished by the Israeli government, creating a plaza in front of the Western Wall in order to make public access to the Western Wall easier.

• Israeli troops examine a destroyed Egyptian MiG-21 in the Sinai Peninsula, June 1967

• Israeli heavy-duty vehicles clearing up the demolished Mughrabi Quarter ruins to create a plaza in front of the Western Wall, July 1967

Post-war:

• 17 June – The Israeli government transfers day-to-day control of the Temple Mount site to the Islamic Waqf.
• 28 June – Israel declares the annexation of East Jerusalem. Arab residents of East Jerusalem are given a permanent resident status in Israel.
• 29 June – Jerusalem was reunified as Israel removed all barriers separating the Old City from the Israeli sector.
• 1 September – The Khartoum Resolution, issued at the conclusion of an Arab League summit in Khartoum, Sudan, adopts the "Three No's" – "no peace with Israel; no recognition of Israel; no negotiations with Israel."
• 21 October – An Egyptian surface-to-surface missile sinks the Israeli destroyer Eilat, killing 47 Israeli sailors. Israel retaliates by shelling Egyptian refineries along the Suez Canal.