Avi Shlaim: "Zionism lost its way" after the Six-Day War

[Although Shlaim agrees that it was a defensive war, he argues that – in the ease of the victory and in the national sense of joy – opportunities were lost, not least for a wider peace.]

Zionism lost its way in 1967, that’s the crucial thing.  The main aim of the Zionist movement before the war was the establishment of an independent Jewish state in Palestine.  But by the eve of the war that objective had already been achieved.  The victory in 1967 reopened the old question of the territorial aims of Zionism. 

And the two trends that emerged cut across party lines... the big division after 1967 was between those who accepted the division of Palestine as a solution and those saying the West Bank was an integral part of the land of Israel.  And in an Israeli society split down the middle, the government resolved the dilemma by deciding not to decide.

~ Avi Shlaim, author of The Iron Wall, an acclaimed study of Israel’s military policies

(As quoted in The Guardian, "The six-day war: why Israel is still divided over its legacy 50 years on," May 20, 2017.)

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