Early Military Moves
On May 17 Gamal Abdel Nasser demanded that the United Nations emergency force of 4,000 men in Sinai and in the Gaza Strip withdraw. Despite efforts from Abba Eban, the UN forces did evacuate its troops a few days later. Israel military commentators and political officials nevertheless believed that Egypt would not open a front against Israel, due to its involvement in the North Yemen Civil War.
However, when Nasser declared that his forces were withdrawing from Yemen and making their way to Sinai, Israel drafted every fit man, which led to an economic paralyzation. No emergency was felt on the Jordanian border. Tourists kept crossing the Mandelbaum Gate, although there were reports of Jordanian Legion forces moving from Amman to towards Judea and Samaria.
Meanwhile, Egyptian forces moved into Sharm e-Sheikh and closed the Straits of Tiran to passage of Israeli ships, as well as strategic materials delivered to Israel by non-Israeli ships. Israel considered this a Casus belli. Nasser's move was supported by Moscow, while the United States warned both Israel and Egypt not to take military action. Speaking before the Knesset, Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol tried to calm the situation by assuring the Arab states that Israel was not seeking war. Still, Israel continued to prepare for war.
Israeli scholar Avner Cohen has argued that this period was also crucial to Israel's nuclear policy, and that the anxiety led Israel to advance towards "operational readiness" of its nuclear option.
Read more about this topic: Waiting Period (Six-Day War)
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