Students of Israeli society and politics generally agree that the Six-Day
War represented a momentous turning point in the history of the Jewish
state. From the perspective of international politics the changes were
indeed drastic. On June 4, 1967, the small State of Israel faced a siege
by almost all its neighbors who were preparing to launch a devastating
blow that would terminate what the Jews called the "Third Common-
wealth." Abandoned by the Western powers, especially by the United
States and France, Israel was left to remove the threat to its survival
alone. Out of the crisis Israel emerged as the great victor who had
defeated the Arab states singlehandedly, conquering territories on each
front and removing the major geostrategic impediments that had plagued
the Jewish state since its inception. For the first time in its history, the
Jewish state also gained bargaining chips that it could presumably
exchange for Arab acceptance. Seemingly, all the Israeli leaders had to
do was to await a "phone call" from the Arab leadership. In reality, only
a portion of Israeli expectations materialized, even from the perspective
of a decade later when the Jewish state signed a peace treaty with Egypt,
the largest Arab state. The Arab-Israeli conflict, at large, was not
terminated, and it even expanded. ¹ Change did take place, however, and
it was the Israeli polity that was transformed, and consequently its
foreign policy as well.

In 1967 Israel was ruled by a veteran Labor elite that continued to
believe that Jordan was the key to a political settlement, especially with
regard to the West Bank. A decade later Israel was governed by a
coalition of nationalist and religious elements that considered the
Jordanian option dead and was dedicated to extensive settlement in
Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza region. The Israeli government no longer
regarded the West Bank and Gaza Strip as collateral to be exchanged for
peace but as an integral part of the Land of Israel, to be settled and
developed by the Jewish people as part of their historic mission. As far
as Labor was concerned, the territories served two purposes: as a

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