Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Note on Official Documents
- Abbreviations
- The Six-Day War and Israeli Self-Defense
- Part One A War is Generated
- Part Two Cold War Togetherness
- Part Three The First Victim of War
- 9 Turkey Shoot
- 10 Cover-up in the Security Council
- 11 Security Council “in the Dark”
- 12 Cover-up in the General Assembly
- Part Four Rallying Round Self-Defense
- Part Five War Without Limit?
- Part Six Peace Sidelined
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
11 - Security Council “in the Dark”
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Note on Official Documents
- Abbreviations
- The Six-Day War and Israeli Self-Defense
- Part One A War is Generated
- Part Two Cold War Togetherness
- Part Three The First Victim of War
- 9 Turkey Shoot
- 10 Cover-up in the Security Council
- 11 Security Council “in the Dark”
- 12 Cover-up in the General Assembly
- Part Four Rallying Round Self-Defense
- Part Five War Without Limit?
- Part Six Peace Sidelined
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Of the actions that preceded the hostilities, those of Egypt were the most visible – the drawing of troops up to the armistice line, the request to remove UNEF, and the shipping restrictions for the Gulf of Aqaba. Hence, there was facial plausibility in Israel's assertion that Egypt was about to attack. Israel had done nothing comparable. Beyond mobilizing reserves, it had made no overt moves. Most Security Council member states knew nothing of the unsuccessful efforts by the four major powers to stop Israel from attacking. In the Security Council, only the Soviet Union trumpeted its prewar efforts to dissuade Israel. The others kept their counsel.
As reported by Jeremy Bowen, a British war correspondent who wrote a detailed account of the war, “The Israelis, who knew exactly what was happening, and the Americans, who knew almost as much, kept silent.” At the crucial Security Council meeting of June 6, US Representative Arthur Goldberg did not refute Israel's claim that Egypt attacked first, although by then the Johnson administration had determined the claim to be false. While the Security Council debated, the IDF broke through Egypt's defenses in northern Sinai and completed the destruction of Egypt's army. By evening on June 6, the Egyptian command ordered a general withdrawal out of Sinai.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Six-Day War and Israeli Self-DefenseQuestioning the Legal Basis for Preventive War, pp. 90 - 100Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012