Key Questions Assignment pp. 50-59

p. 50 What were the results of the 6 day war?
Due to aid from the French and British (airforce etc) and US technology that allowed them to intercept Arab communications, the Israelis won the war after ruining most of the Arab airforce; 15,000 Arabs died and <1,000 Israelis. The Israelis decided on military occupation of the lands they had conquered; this made their own borders more secure as there were buffer zones between Israel and each of their enemies now.

p. 54 Why did Egypt and Syria attack Israel in 1973?
There were tensions since 1968 b/w Egypt and Israel over the use of the Suez Canal, and Egypt was getting tired out by 1970 of the 'war of attrition" (both sides constantly fighting across the Canal). Nasser died and President Sadat tried to gain favor with the USA and hence convince them to force Israel into a peace agreement (Egypt wanted Sinai in return for a peace agreement), but the USA was too busy with Viet Nam and the 6 million Jews in America would not stand for bullying Israel. With the support of Syria's new president and oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Egypt decided to secretly prepare for war and then attacked Israel on October 6, 1973 (Yom KIppur).

p. 55 What happened in the early stages of the war?
Egyptian troops and tanks crossed the Suez Canal and destroyed 300 Israeli tanks and regained part of Sinai, and Syrian tanks invaded Golan Heights. Israeli air force retaliated but the Arabs had Soviet missiles. It took the Israelis 3 days to fully mobilize but then they pushed the Syrians back and surrounded the Egyptian army.

p. 57 Why and how did the superpowers become involved?
The USSR sent arms to the Arabs and the USA organized a massive airlift to Israel. The USSR and USA later met and together demanded a ceasefire. They did this because the USSR didn't want Egypt to lose Sinai and the USA was scared of the Oil Weapon, and both wanted to avoid direct confrontation.

To what extent was the war an Arab victory?
Since the Israelis only won the war on a military basis but lost in terms of all the "face" and respect gained by the Arabs via their use of planning, surprise, and the Oil Weapon (the US and rest of the world were now forced into better relations with Arabs and more likely to force Israel into a peace settlement), I would say the Arabs won the war to a fair extent.

What steps led to an Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty?
US secretary of state Henry Kissinger engaged in "shuttle diplomacy" between Israel, Egypt, and Syria. President Sadat was moved by all the Egyptian deaths and losses from the past four wars to want real peace with Israel and became willing to acknowledge Israel and visit their parliament to discuss peace. Then the Israeli prime minister flew to Egypt for peace talks. Then in 1978 US President Carter invited them both to Camp David where the frameworks for a peace agreement were arranged. In March 1978, they signed the Treaty of Washington (agreeing to what they'd set up at Camp David).