Prelude to the Six Day War From the Perspective of the Air Forces

Abstract

The 1967 Six Day War (also referred to as the III. Arab-Israeli War or the 1967 June War) started with a decisive series of aerial strikes. The conflict was practically decided on the very first day with the superbly planned and executed Operation Focus, during which the Israeli Air Force achieved air superiority. It is worth to reexamine the prelude to this successful operation, as the aftereffects of the Six Day War can still be felt in the Middle East today. The aim of this work is to examine the road to the Six Day War by first presenting the mostly political, and partly economic reasons behind the conflict, and then focusing on the air forces of the opposing countries with special attention paid to their development between 1956 and 1967.