Key points
What to understand first
- Egypt’s removal of UN peacekeepers and closure of the Straits of Tiran created the crisis.
- Israel won decisively in six days.
- From 1948 to 1967 Jews had been barred from the Western Wall.
- The 1967 Protection of Holy Places Law guarantees access for members of all religions.
Chronology
Key dates
Peacekeepers out, straits closed
Egypt demanded UNEF’s withdrawal and closed the Straits of Tiran. 85
War begins
Israel’s air force destroyed much of the Egyptian air force on the ground. 85
The Old City
Israeli paratroopers reached the Western Wall. 85
Holy places protected
The Knesset passed the Protection of Holy Places Law. 84
The crisis of May 1967
In mid-May 1967 Egypt moved large forces into Sinai and demanded the withdrawal of the UN Emergency Force. It then closed the Straits of Tiran, Israel’s route to the Red Sea. Jordan and Iraq joined Egypt in military arrangements. 85
Nineteen years of a divided city
After 1948 the Old City, including the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall, was under Jordanian control. Jews could not visit their holiest site of prayer for nineteen years. 86
Reunification and open access
Protection of Holy Places Law
The Holy Places shall be protected from desecration and any other violation and from anything likely to violate the freedom of access of the members of the different religions to the places sacred to them.
Religious authorities of each faith continue to administer their own holy sites.
Evidence
Sources for this article
- S84Protection of Holy Places Law, 5727-1967
Knesset / Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Statutory protection of holy places from desecration and of freedom of access for members of all religions.
- S85The 1967 Arab-Israeli War
US Department of State, Office of the Historian. Withdrawal of UNEF, closure of the Straits of Tiran, and the course of the June 1967 war.
- S86Jerusalem: Old City Jewish Quarter
Encyclopaedia Britannica. Jordanian control of the Old City 1948–1967 and Israeli control from June 1967.