The Acquisition of Territory Captured in a War of Self-Defense is Different from a War of Aggression
There is a further cardinal point regarding the question of whether the acquisition of captured territory from 1967 by Israel can be regarded as illegal. The great authority in international law, Elihu Lauterpacht, has drawn the distinction between unlawful territorial change by an aggressor and lawful territorial change in response to an aggressor. In drafting its preamble, the architects of Resolution 242 were referring to known international legal principles that precluded territorial modifications as a result of aggression. The preamble talks about "acquisition of territory by war."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is the acquisition of captured territory by Israel in 1967 illegal? The great authority in internationa law, Elihu Lauterpacht, has drawn the distinction between unlawful territorial change by an aggressor and lawful territorial change in response to an aggressor.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The case of a war of self-defense in response to aggression is a very different matter. This distinction was further made by Stephen Schwebel, who would later become the legal advisor of the U.S. Department of State and then serve as President of the International Court of Justice at The Hague. The preamble of Resolution 242 was a compromise that took into account the other drafts that were before the Security Council, even though it did not really apply to Israel's case. And by keeping it in the preamble and not in the operative parts of the resolution, the architects of Resolution 242 avoided creating any legal obligations for Israel that could be construed as precluding the resolution's call for new "secure and recognized boundaries" beyond the earlier 1967 lines.

http://www.defensibleborders.org/rosenne.htm

As Israel was the aggressor in every war in the Levant apart from the Yom Kippur war Israel has a lot of territory to give up. The is Western Galilee, Majdal, and the area associated with the Gaza strip, The area along the West Bank, the Latrun salient, Golan Heights, Shaba farms etc etc.

Address by Prime Minister Begin at the National Defense College- 8 August 1982

Israeli MFA

More context:

While nasser continued to make speeches threatening war, arab terrorist attacks grew more frequent. In 1965, 35 raids were conducted against Israel. In 1966, the number increased to 41. In just the first four months of 1967, 37 attacks were launched.5

Meanwhile, syria's attacks on Israeli kibbutzim from the Golan Heights provoked a retaliatory strike on April 7, 1967, during which Israeli planes shot down six syrian MiGs. Shortly thereafter, the soviet union--which had been providing military and economic aid to both syria and egypt--gave damascus information alleging a massive Israeli military buildup in preparation for an attack. Despite Israeli denials, syria decided to invoke its defense treaty with egypt.

On May 15, Israel's Independence Day, egyptian troops began moving into the Sinai and massing near the Israeli border. By May 18, syrian troops were prepared for battle along the Golan Heights.

nasser ordered the un emergency force, stationed in the Sinai since 1956, to withdraw on May 16. Without bringing the matter to the attention of the general assembly, as his predecessor had promised, secretary-general u thant complied with the demand. After the withdrawal of the unef, the voice of the arabs proclaimed (May 18, 1967):
[list]As of today, there no longer exists an international emergency force to protect Israel. We shall exercise patience no more. We shall not complain any more to the un about Israel. The sole method we shall apply against Israel is total war, which will result in the extermination of Zionist existence.6

An enthusiastic echo was heard May 20 from syrian defense minister hafez assad:

• Our forces are now entirely ready not only to repulse the aggression, but to initiate the act of "liquidation" itself, and to explode the Zionist presence in Israel. The syrian army, with its finger on the trigger, is united....I, as a military man, believe that the time has come to enter into a battle of annihilation.7

The Blockade

On May 22, egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to all Israeli shipping and all ships bound for Eilat. This blockade cut off Israel's only supply route with Asia and stopped the flow of oil from its main supplier, Iran.

JVL

You may object to the bias of the source all you like, but it is absolutely correct in its assertions

The straits of Tiran was closed to Israeli shipping????

Closed to Israeli ships carrying materials of War. Any Israeli shipping that was willing to be stopped and searched for materials was to be let through. The Israeli Government decided to stop all Israeli shipping under its own volition.

Oil in a tank is a material of War. In international law that is permissible. Egypt was willing to go to International tribunals for a ruling, Israel was not. JVL as per usual is using equivocations (lies) to present a case for Israel.

Part one and two six day war deceptions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YorwoqFGCn4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgZQpHsfWNw

9 Minutes and 2 secs Israel pre-emptive strike.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy5L3GPy7JQ&NR=1

Nov 13, 1966 Samu' raid: Israeli troops retaliate for the November 10 killing of 3 Israeli soldiers by a mine planted on a patrol road. The attack unexpectedly runs into a column of Jordan Legion soldiers, kills 15 Jordanian soldiers and 3 civilians, & dynamite 125 houses in as Samu according to UN or about 40 according to Israelis, near Hebron; in response to the incursion Israel is censured by SCR228 (25 Nov 66), but there is no military response from Amman. This leads to recriminations in the Israeli government, which had intended a smaller scale raid, and Palestinian anger and clashes with Jordanian security forces throughout West Bank, especially in Nablus where the army had to intervene. The PLO gains support.
See:-
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/jo.../xix/28052.htm
communication no. 3.

Dec 14, 1966 Egyptian Marshal Hakim Amer cables Nasser from Pakistan, recommending closing the straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping and dismissing the UNEF force from Gaza.

Dec 19, 1966 Israel signs the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) ratified Oct 3, 1991

1967 Jan -March 1967 Over 270 border "incidents" cause rising concern in Israel.

March 3 1967 - Landmine injures tractor driver in Kibbutz Shamir.

March 12 1967, explosion on train tracks near Kibbutz Lahav.

March 26 1967, 2 Palestinians killed trying to demolish a water pump near Arad.

April 7, 1967 Israelis respond to intensive Syrian shelling of DMZ and Israeli villages and kibbutzim with IAF raid. An air battle involving about 130 aircraft developed. Israelis down 6 MiG 21 fighters, 2 over the Golan and 4 over Damascus.

Two Americans at the AlD mission in Yemen had been jailed in April on charges of attempting to destroy the city of Taiz; they were released on May 17. For information concerning this episode, see the Yemen compilation in Foreign Relations, 1964-1968, volume XXI; see also ibid., vol. XVIII, Document 417.

May - Arab unity reaches a new height. Nasser puts Egyptian forces on full alert and orders U.N. observers to leave the Sinai. He closes the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping and declares that Israel must be destroyed With reference to Gulf of Aqaba, Nasser stated that for eight years after 1948 the Straits had been closed to Israeli shipping and was open only by the illegal act of Israel, France and England, and he proposed merely to return to the status of 1956 which had been at least tolerated by all the nations for eight years. He explained that even we had deplored and opposed the act of the Israelis, British and French which changed the status quo in 1956. He stated that the Straits of Tiran were navigable only in a width of three miles which was clearly territorial waters and that he intended to maintain this position. He was asked specifically what commerce he would allow through the Straits under his concept and he replied by saying that the exclusions would be 1) Israeli ships, 2) oil or any refined products, and 3) arms for Israel. Here he stated that all countries claimed territorial waters to a greater distance offshore than he was asserting and further that he was at war with Israel and had been since 1948 with nothing existing between them except an armistice, and that under these circumstances he was entitled to assert jurisdiction. When asked if Nasser would consider referring this matter of the Straits to either the United Nations or the World Court, in view of the fact that four countries had borders on the Gulf. He replied that he would not submit the question to the UN because the Israelis normally treated resolutions of the UN not favourable to them as "pieces of paper." He said that he did not have sufficient knowledge of the World Court to answer specifically about referring the matter to the World Court for decision but would consult his legal advisers. This was qualified by saying that he did not want to undertake any course of action that would take "years" to decide.

May 11, 1967 Israeli PM Eshkol states, "In view of the 14 incidents in the past month alone it is possible that we will have to adopt measures no less drastic than those of April 7." UPI circulated a rumour (May 12) that Israel was trying to topple the Syrian regime. The incidents included shelling, terror attacks and attempted infiltration of a Syrian agent to blow up locations in Jerusalem.

May 12, 1967 Remarks by Yitzhak Rabin interpreted as provocative against Syria. Rabin is rebuked by Eshkol.

May 13, 1967 Soviets inform Anwar Sadat in Moscow that Israel is massing 10-12 brigades in preparation for an attack on Syria, supposedly to take place May 17. The information is denied by Israeli Government. But:-

3. El Feki followed all of this most carefully and with genuine interest. He said that he was particularly struck by the fact that whereas the Israelis denied any build up on the Syrian border, no mention was made of Jordanian border. He also read from one of his intelligence reports which highlighted fact that yesterday's Jerusalem parade did not include any significant heavy equipment, thus revealing that such equipment had been kept with units.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/jo.../xix/28052.htm

May 14, 1967 First reports of Egyptian troop movements into Sinai.

May 16, 1967 Radio Cairo broadcast stated: "The existence of Israel has continued too long. We welcome the Israeli aggression. We welcome the battle we have long awaited. The peak hour has come. The battle has come in which we shall destroy Israel."

May 18, 1967 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser orders the United Nations Emergency Force to leave Sinai.

May 20 1967, Egypt began withdrawing its troops from Yemen, and Israel re-evaluated the situation. The IDF responded with a large-scale mobilization of its reserve forces, which paralysed Israel's economy.

May 21, 1967 Ben-Gurion summons Israeli Chief of Staff Rabin and accuses him of precipitating the crisis and dragging Israel into a dangerous war. On the following day, Rabin, under tremendous pressure, is incapacitated temporarily by nicotine poisoning, massive fatigue or a nervous breakdown.
May 23, 1967 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser closes the straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. Egypt moves six divisions, about 130,000 soldiers, into Sinai. Negotiations with US to reopen the Straits of Tiran fail.

23 May 1967 The Israeli cabinet met and decided to launch a pre-emptive strike if the Straits of Tiran were not re-opened to Israeli shipping by 25 May. Following an approach from US Undersecretary of State Eugene Rostow to allow time for the negotiation of a non-violent solution Israel agreed to a delay of ten days to two weeks.

May 26, 1967 Speech by Gamal Nasser to Arab Trade Unionists Nasser claimed that Egypt was only looking for the right movement and the proper excuse to fight for the Palestinian cause.

Two Egyptian Air Force MiG 21s over flew the Israeli nuclear reactor in Dimona. Israel was unable to intercept them, and the over-flight caused quite a bit of concern. Needless to say, this rather explicit speech on the same day produced alarm in Israel.

http://www.mideastweb.org/nasser26may67.htm

May 26, 1967 President Johnson reluctantly agrees to see Abba Eban. Tells him he is powerless to act to open straits of Tiran and requires more time (about two weeks) to assemble UN support for a regatta to open the straits. Warns Israel against unilateral action. Subsequent UN debate proves fruitless.

May 27, 1967 Nasser cancels a planned Egyptian attack on Israel (Operation fajr - Dawn), planned for following day, after it became obvious that the Israelis knew about the plan.

May 28, 1967 Israeli Levi Eshkol broadcasts a hesitant, stammering speech, further exacerbating pressure on him to make way for other leaders. Later it is claimed that the stammering was due to problems in reading the manuscript.

28 May Secretary McNamara said the Israelis think they can win in 3-4 days; but he thinks it would be longer--7 to 10 days.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/jo.../xix/28057.htm

May 29, 1967 Speech by Gamal Nasser to Egyptian National Assembly Members - Nasser explicitly threatened to destroy Israel: "...God will surely help and urge us to restore the situation to what it was in 1948....But now that the time has come - and I have already said in the past that we will decide the time and place and not allow them to decide - we must be ready for triumph and not for a recurrence of the 1948 comedies. "

http://www.mideastweb.org/nasser26may67.htm

May 30, 1967 Jordan signs a defence pact with Egypt, allows Egyptian command of Jordan Legion.

May Israel mobilizes 13 brigades on Syrian border. Nasser informs Robert Anderson who carried out diplomatic missions on behalf of President Lyndon B. Johnson saying he [Nasser] felt he had no choice but to mobilize and send troops to Sinai.

May 31, 1967 President Abdur Rahman Aref of Iraq stated "The existence of Israel is an error which must be rectified. This is our opportunity to wipe out the ignominy which has been with us since 1948. Our goal is clear - to wipe Israel off the map.

Jun 2, 1967 Moshe Dayan joins Israeli cabinet as Minister of Defence (the US assessment is that the appointment was hardly favourable to restraint). Unity government formed. Reservists released for furlough before outbreak of the war.

June 2nd 1967: "Robert C. Toth, Los Angeles Times correspondent in Israel, was able to circumvent military censorship on the scope of the Israel mobilization before hostilities. To keep the extent of the call-up secret, Israel said it had undertaken 'partial mobilization'. Censors would pass no other phrase. Deep in a story on war preparations filed three days before the fighting began, Toth inserted the phrase, 'Israel's partial mobilization was Ivory-pure.' The story cleared. On the foreign desk in Los Angeles, editors quickly realized Toth was referring to the Ivory soap slogan--99 and 44/100ths per cent pure--and rewrote Toth's lead paragraph to say that Israel was 'fully mobilized'."

Six Days in June by Robert J. Donovan and the staff of the Los Angeles Times,

UN Docs

Saturday 3rd June 1967: President Johnson informed by Abe Feinberg at a fund raising dinner that Israel had decided to go to “War”.

Lyndon: An Oral Biography (Published in New York by G P Putman 1980) ISBN-13: 978-0345296528 page 480

War is inevitable.

Old News video. Excellent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hIll...ature=related#

Along with some real history:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9MkcsBbBGA

This is just plain revisionist bull. Even the Arab sites admit it.

Hasbara1 you are so full of doggy doo doo. Fact Israel attacked first that makes Israel the aggressor end of story.

Hasbara1 excuses don't count.

Israel may try to excuse their actions with as many what ifs. But what ifs don't count in History. Israel did end of story.

Casus Belli is legal cause for war. No one is required to wait to be attacked before striking.

Israel can say that an ant crawling over the sand is a Casus Belli but that does not automatically make it a Casus Belli. If you think that the Israeli case is so strong then why has Israel not taken it to court???

The more you edit about the rights of Israel to more you make Israel sound like a small school boy saying "It's not my fault".

Fact Israel make a strike first.

End of story. The rest is just Israeli excuses.

You just don't get it, do you? It was you complaining that Israel struck first. And Egypt struck first a couple other times, didn't it?

ps -- there is a difference between a reason and an 'excuse'. Traditionally the first strike has implied the aggressor, but it is by no means writ in stone; nor is the first strike always a bomb or an invasion. But these finer points pass right by you. For you it is enough to merely blame everything on Israel and those nasty Joooos.

__________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x0bU...watch_response
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL0C2QvqIlo#
"The courageous over the infidels, make war for Allah and are not afraid... This is the depiction of the army of Allah that will come at Allah's decree, from here or from there, to liberate these lands from the defilement of the Jews, for Allah was angry with them in his book and called them once 'monkeys,' once 'swine,' and once 'donkeys.'" (Palestinian TV, March 30, 2001)