58 years ago today, the situation in Israel was dire… Exponentially more than it is today - but for wholly different reasons.

Ever since the Egyptians closed the Tiran Straits on May 22, blockading Israel from any and all supplies of oil from Iran, Israeli army intelligence predicted a surprise Egyptian attack accompanied by an onslaught of missiles, poison gas, and even primitive radioactive devices. Syria was sure to join in the assault, and probably Jordan too. The Americans, IDF officials believed, would not intervene. As such, the army adapted a number of contingency plans to hit the Egyptians first and to seize the initiative on other fronts as well. The only thing they needed was the government’s go-ahead… but instead Prime Minister Eshkol hit pause. In a speech delivered on May 28, Eshkol wanted to tell Israelis that the government, though ready to repel any Arab attack, was working with the United States to resolve the crisis peaceably. Except that on top of his lack of sleep, nagging chest cold and artificial lens in one eye, he was handed a script filled with corrections and last-minute additions. His delivery was rambling and barely intelligible. For the audience, it sounded like indecision and impending defeat. The Israeli public reacted swiftly. There were calls for Eshkol to step down and let David Ben-Gurion or Moshe Dayan make the important decisions.

Throughout the country, Israelis were hurrying to dig trenches, build shelters, and fill sandbags. In Jerusalem, in particular, schools were refitted as bomb shelters, and air raid drills were practiced daily. Most buses and virtually all taxis were mobilized, and an emergency blood drive was launched. The Red Cross was petitioned for surgeons and extra units of plasma were ordered from abroad. A special committees was placed in charge of gathering essential foodstuffs. Another was charged with replacing workers called to the front, and yet another for evacuating children to Europe. 14,000 hospital beds were readied and antidotes stockpiled for poison gas victims. Some 10,000 graves were prepared for the impending attack.

By June 4, Israel was genuinely facing a crisis of biblical proportions. It was at this point that even if the decision was reached to attack first, Israel needed the green light from the Americans. Meir Amit, then head of the Mossad, reported to Eshkol’s cabinet that he secured an American commitment to three things. They would refill Israel’s arsenal after the war. They would help Israel in the UN. And, they would isolate the Russians from the arena of conflict. For seven hours, Israel’s National Unity Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, met to review their military options. They voted unanimously to let Eshkol and Dayan choose the time and place of attack. After the cabinet adjourned, the two Israeli leaders agreed that the attack would commence at 7:45, Monday, June 5.

…And the rest is history.

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