King Hussein of Jordan attacked Israel first from the West bank because Egypt had falsely told him that Israel had been effectively destroyed and Egypt was offensively attacking Israel.

The following are exceprts from “Hussein of Jordan: My “War” with Israel,” As told to and with additional material by Vick Vance and Pierre Lauer, 1969.

“It was at this point that we received a telephone call at Air Force Headquarters from U.N. General Odd Bull. It was a little after 11 AM.

The Norwegian General informed me that the Israeli Prime Minister had addressed an appeal to Jordan. Mr. Eshkol had summarily announced that the Israeli offensive had started that morning, Monday, June 5, with operations directed against the United Arab Republic, and then he added: “If you don’t intervene, you will suffer no consequences.”

By this time we were already fighting in Jerusalem and our planes had just taken off to bomb Israeli air bases. So I answered Odd Bull: “They started the battle. Well, they are receiving our reply by air.””

Events leading to the Six Day War (1967)

The road to war was paved by the growing tension in the area since 1963 over the issue of exploiting the waters of the Jordan River and the Kineret Lake. This led to an escalation of military clashes initiated by Syria, and to an increase of Palestinian terror attacks against Israel encouraged by Arab states, particularly Syria.

The immediate causes for the war included a series of escalating steps taken by the Arabs: the concluding of a Syrian-Egyptian military pact to which Jordan and Iraq later joined, the expulsion of the UN Emergency Force (UNEF) from the Sinai Peninsula and the concentration of Egyptian forces there, and finally the closure by Egypt of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, constituting a casus belli for Israel.

When Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon moved their forces toward the Israeli border, Israel mobilized its reserve forces, and launched a diplomatic campaign to win international support to end the Egyptian blockade of Israeli shipping through the Straits of Tiran.

When this failed, and in reaction to Arab threats of wiping Israel out, the war began with an Israeli pre-emptive aerial strike on 5 June 1967. It ended on 10 June 1967 with Israel’s victory.

Israel Ministry Of Foreign Affairs

Israel’s story in maps:

Contemporary Israel

• Topographical map of Israel
• Israel - Size and Dimension
• Tel Aviv-Ramallah Topographic Profile
• Jordan Valley Topographic Profile
• Israel and the Region
• Diplomatic Relations of Israel around the World
• Diplomatic Missions of Israel
• Jerusalem
• The Golan Heights
• Israel’s Water Resources
• Israeli Agriculture
• Hi-Tech Industries in Israel
• Transportation and Built-Up Areas
• Kibbutz and Moshav, unique forms of cooperative farming
• Israel’s Forests
• Nature Reserves and National Parks

Jews in the Land of Israel through the ages

• The Twelve Tribes of Israel (ca 1200 BCE)
• The Kingdom of David and Solomon (1004-968 BCE)
• The Herodian Period (37 BCE - 73 CE)
• Jews in the Land of Israel (73-636 CE)
• Jews in the Land of Israel (636-1880 CE)
• Jews in the Land of Israel (1880-1914)

Pre-State Period - Setting borders

• The Balfour Declaration
• Determining the Southern Border (1906)
• The Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916)
• The British Mandate
• The Peel Commission Plan (1937)
• The UN Partition Plan - Resolution 181 (1947)

Israel’s Changing Borders - War and Peace

Early Years of Independence - 1948-1967

• The War of Independence (1948)
• Armistice Lines (1949-1967)
• The Frontier with Syria (1949-1967)
• Jewish Communities Lost in the War of Independence
• Divided Jerusalem (1949-1967)
• The Sinai Campaign (1956)

The Six Day War  - June 1967 

• Events leading to the Six Day War (1967)
• Israel After the Six Day War
• United Jerusalem After the Six Day War
• Old City of Jerusalem
• The War of Attrition (1968-1970)

Yom Kippur War - October 1973

• Yom Kippur War Cease-Fire Lines

Lebanon - The northern front

• Operation Peace for Galilee (1982)
• Israel’s Withdrawal from Southern Lebanon (2000)
• The Second Lebanon War (2006)

• Peace with Egypt (1979)
• Peace with Jordan (1994)
• Israel-PLO Interim Agreements since 1993
• The Gaza-Jericho Agreement between Israel and the PLO (1994)
• Israel’s Disengagement from Gaza and North Samaria (2005)

Continuing Conflict - Terror and Threats

• The Situation on the eve of the Second Intifada (2000)
• Range of Fire from Gaza
• Range of Fire from Lebanon
• Range of Fire from Judea & Samaria (West Bank)
• Operation Cast Lead (2008)
• Terror Attacks on the Southern Border (2011-2013)