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Israeli Independence Day, 1967: Mixed Messages on the Eve of War

ABSTRACT Israel’s 19th Independence Day preceded the Six-Day War by three weeks. Amid worsening regional tensions, the Eshkol government supplemented traditional diplomacy and deterrence by modifying Independence Day rituals with the intention of deterring further Arab provocations; reassuring Israelis of their leaders’ competency; leading the West to blame the Arabs, should war erupt; and asserting freedom of action in Jerusalem. A close analysis of this tinkering with the press, a poem, and a parade illuminates Eshkol’s management of the deteriorating security situation and Israel’s assumptions about Arab and global actors during the “waiting period eve” (erev ha-hamtana) preceding the three-week countdown to the war. The modified rituals failed to deter the Arabs, fully reassure Israelis or appease the West, instead exacerbating tensions, but successfully demonstrated Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem.