The Six-Day War: The Breaking of the Middle East
Guy Laron, Yale University Press, £20
The Arab-Israeli war of 1967 remains the most consequential of all the regional wars in the Middle East. For Israel, the six-day military triumph over Syrian and Egyptian forces was crowned by land gains which had previously been thought unattainable – East Jerusalem, the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights. It would also pave the way for the explosion in illegal settlements, future occupations, Palestinian uprisings and counter-attacks which have remained hurdles to any two-state solution for 50 years. A short period of Israeli exultation has given way to half a century of despair for those hoping for peace.
