The Arab world in general was elated when Nasser moved to confront Israel, and cheerfully awaited what was expected to be an Israeli defeat. A number of countries, though, did much more than (prematurely) celebrate:
- Iraq sent troops the Jordanian-occupied West Bank, where the 8th Mechanized Brigade saw action, and to Syria; its jets strafed several villages in northern Israel.
- Lebanese jets, too, strafed Israeli positions in the north.
- Algeria sent MiG jet fighters to reinforce Egypt’s air force; and Pakistani pilots were said to have been behind the controls of several Jordanian jets.
- Saudi Arabia sent soldiers to help Jordan; but they stopped short of entering the country.
- Moroccan, Tunisian and Sudanese volunteer forces headed toward Egypt to join the fight against Israel, as did contingents from contingents from Morocco, Libya and Saudi Arabia.
- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain, Iraq, Algeria and Qatar banned oil shipments to US and UK. Iraq and Libya closed down their oil facilities altogether.
- Sudan, Algeria, Iraq, Mauritania and Yemen severed diplomatic ties with the United States.
General references
- Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East, Michael B. Oren, 2002
- Time, “A Nation Under Siege,” June 9, 1967
