How Arab and Israeli fighters clashed in the skies over a key Iraqi airfield during 1967’s Six-Day War
SIX-DAY WAR
Every nation and every war has its heroes. Some attain the status of national legends, while many more remain unknown forever, except within narrow circles. Despite their catastrophic defeat in the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War — better known as the ‘Six-Day War’ — the Arab militaries had their own heroes from that conflict. Over time, one became better-known to the Western public. Part of the reason was that the person in question was not an Arab. Another was that following the 1967 defeat, many Arab heroes were treated with the utmost injustice by their superiors and discharged from service.
There is an old saying that no plan survives an encounter with the enemy. In June 1967, the Egyptian military’s planning fell apart before the war even began. With Egypt being the military powerhouse of the Arab world, this meant the contingency planning of all its allies began disintegrating too.
Following a misinformed Soviet warning about Israel preparing an invasion of Syria, and three weeks of growing tensions, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser was determined not to act as an aggressor. Against…
