Myths & Facts

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For the latest on the peace process, see our updated entry: Keeping Track of the Road Map MYTH #266

"The United States helped Israel defeat the Arabs in six days."

FACT
The United States tried to prevent the war through negotiations, but it could not persuade Nasser or the other Arab states to cease their belligerent statements and actions. Still, right before the war, President Johnson warned: “ Israel will not be alone unless it decides to go alone.”
1 Then, when the war began, the State Department announced: “Our position is neutral in thought, word and deed.”
2 Moreover, while the Arabs were falsely accusing the United States of airlifting supplies to Israel, Johnson imposed an arms embargo on the region ( France, Israel’s other main arms supplier, also embargoed arms to Israel). By contrast, the Soviets were supplying massive amounts of arms to the Arabs. Simultaneously, the armies of Kuwait, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq were contributing troops and arms to the Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian fronts.

3 Notes
1Lyndon B. Johnson, The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency 1963-1969, (NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971), p. 293.
2Associated Press, (June 5, 1967).
3Howard Sachar, A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time, (NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979), p. 629.This article can be found at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths2/1967war.html#f4 See also: Fact Sheet #53: Remembering the Six Day War Source: Myths & Facts Online -- A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Mitchell G. Bard.

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