"To Prevent Israel..."; No, Not 2012

This was written in 1967.

While the original objective of the Control Group had been—starkly stated—to prevent the Israelis from striking the forces closing around them,

That is from point d9 of the Minutes of the Ninth Meeting of the Middle East Control Group11. Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Office of the Executive Secretariat, Middle East Crisis Files, 1967, Entry 5190, Box 17, Minutes/Decisions of the Control Group, Folder 1. Secret; Washington, June 4, 1967, 11 a.m.

Is there a "control group" meeting now in Washington with the same aim?

Then it was Egypt and Syria and today, Iran?

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Bland? Not At All

The NYTimes characterizes the statement Hillary Clinton issued yesterday so:

a blandly worded joint statement issued afterward made clear that there had been no breakthroughs.

Really?

Try this

...While the statement issued after the meeting recapitulated familiar positions, analysts zeroed in on two passages...In the second, she spoke of an agreement that “reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state, based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israeli security requirements.”

Does that "based on" mean Israel must withdraw fully to the pre-1967 lines or does it mean that areas of Judea and Samaria will be retained?

Why are they smiling?

Between the 17th of Tammuz And the Ninth of Av

There are Three Weeks between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av when Jews mourn the destruction of the Two Temples and the Fortress of Betar.

Below is a short clip I found here which shows the breakthrough via the Lions' Gate into the Old City in 1967, the liberation of the Temple Mount, Rabbi Shlomo Goren inside the Omar Memorial Building, the Paratroopers on Parade in the Temple Mount and the Western Wall, with Moshe Dayan, Rechavam Zeevi and Yitzhak Rabin:





(Kippah tip: Avi Abelow)

Pic of First Shabbat at Kotel Post-67

Kind of small and narrow, eh?

Found at Jewlicious

Just Who Is Irrational?

Tom Segev strikes again:-

It all happened in what Segev depicts as a two-act drama of irrationality between June 5 and 10, 1967. The first act came when, in the throes of a national depression and existential angst, Israel invaded Egypt, destroying its air force and seizing both Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula. The second came a few days later when, in the irrational exuberance of that victory, Israel turned to the north and east, to Jordan and Syria, extending its realm in both directions.

While I haven't finished reading his book (in Hebrew), it is so off-the-mark and retrospectively biased.

I was here 1966-67 so this time I have full personal memories.

The "Tankless Parade" of 1967

There's a great story in these pictures:

1. 2.


3.


4.


You know by now that during 1966-67, as a Betar madrich, I was in Israel in Jerusalem at the Jewish Agency's Youth Movement Leadership Training Institute (here are pics from my Machzor) and then at Amatzia.

The Independence Day parade that was to be held in Jerusalem that year was trimmed down when the international community protested Israel's intention of including tanks in its display of its military might. Israel capitulated and so, there were to be no armored units and their vehicles.

Well, as you can expect, that decision did not sit well with the members of Betar in Jerusalem. Dr. Israel Eldad, who had formed the previous year a youth framework called the "Chugim Leumi'im" (National Cells) planned a major distribution of flyers calling upon Israelis to remember the Kotel. One Betari, Moshe Amirav, now a far leftist, even thought of marching in to the Old City and blowing the Shofar there at the Wall.

Well, the Betarim, local and the crew at the Machon program, got involved in making "tanks" made out of plywood. The parade was coming down Jaffa Road and would turn right up King George Street. We painted "We Are Here" on them.

The Betar clubhouse was situated behind the stores located next to where the Mashbir L'Tzarchan store in now located at the corner of Betzalel and King George. The facade of the building, the Talita Kumi, has been left there as a reminder. A narrow driveway led up to the building and sure enough, it hid us from prying eyes until the moment when the command cars unit drove by.

We charged down the driveway, across the sidewalk and into the street. The Betarim caried the wooden images of tanks and for maybe a minute, mingled with the actual parade until the police move in and knocked the tanks out of our hands. But I managed to get pictures.

The first shows the command cars driving by.

In the second, you can see a "tank" aloft.

The third zeroes in on a verbal altercation.

It then became quite physical and what's left are broken pieces of wood on the ground.

Three weeks later, tanks moved into the Old City and a short while after, there was the victory parade with tanks rolling down Salah A-Din Street.

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UPDATE:

Some of the diplomatic background:

and

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