With the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War approaching, the Defense Ministry has released new details on Operation Focus, the large, surprise airstrikes that Israel carried out on the morning of June 5, 1967, that signaled the start of the war, which ended with Israel's stunning victory six days later. The operation destroyed the majority of the Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian air forces, paving the way for the crushing defeat of the Arab states and Israel's threefold territorial expansion. The materials released on Sunday include portions of the military orders for the operation and a study the Israel Defense Forces conducted following the war. The study begins with a quote from the wartime chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Yitzhak Rabin, who later became prime minister: "The Israeli Air Force's expertise, the courage of its pilots, and the dedication of the ground crews was what allowed the IDF to emerge victorious so swiftly in the Six-Day War, as well as prevented loss of life and pain among the civilian population. Such an outcome was made possible because the enemy's air power was all but eliminated, giving the Israeli Air Force total air supremacy and control." On June 4, 1967, the IAF had 412 aircraft at its disposal, including 203 bombers or fighter jets, and 235 pilots. Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria had a total of 826 aircraft and 980 pilots. Because of this disparity, Operation Focus' military objective was "to paralyze the enemy air forces by targeting their runways and destroying as many aircraft as possible on the ground." In order to meet that objective, the military order called for "continuous sorties by the attacking aircraft." The documents that were released Sunday include testimony from the IAF commander at the time, Maj. Gen. Mordechai Hod. "I presented a plan that called for simultaneous strikes, but with a particular emphasis on the Egyptian Air Force," he told the IDF History Department. "When I was asked about the defense of Israel's airspace, I said we would have 12 Mirage aircraft." Hod also recalled that he was not particularly concerned about the Syrian Arab Air Force. "I wanted to make sure we inflicted maximum damage to the Egyptian Air Force, using our maximum firepower. I did not take the Syrian air force as a serious threat; Yes, it was a nuisance, but not a serious one." The first wave of Israeli strikes lasted 101 minutes and included 183 sorties. More than 170 of those sorties targeted enemy airfields, and the other sorties were used for reconnaissance and patrolling missions. Eleven airfields were targeted during the first wave, with the goal of destroying as many aircraft as possible while they were still on the ground. The materials show that the Egyptian Air Force's combat worthiness was largely destroyed after the first wave of attacks by the IAF. Hod's testimony shows that he put a particular emphasis on the first wave because of the threat on Tel Aviv. "This issue [the threat] was discussed on a daily basis; even [Prime Minister] Levi Eshkol asked me, on two separate occasions, whether I could ensure that Tel Aviv wouldn't be bombed, and I said, 'I can assure you that Tel Aviv will not be destroyed from the air. It will be bombed a few times, but that is it, and if people go to the shelters, everything will be fine'." Five Israeli pilots were killed in the first wave of air attacks, two were captured, and three were wounded. The second wave lasted 104 minutes, and unlike the first one, the pilots needed to constantly improvise and adapt their mission because the war had begun to pick up pace. Fourteen airfields were targeted in that wave, including some that had been previously hit in the first wave. One Israeli pilot was killed in the second wave. In the third and fourth waves, five Israeli pilots were killed, two were captured, and two were wounded. "It did not take long to realize that we should not engage the Syrian air force during the first phase and engage it only when Syria started fighting, because the Syrian air force was not particularly strong compared to Egypt's," Hod said, according to the documents. "Since things proceeded smoothly on the Egyptian front, implementing this decision was made easier, to the point that some of the aircraft that had been sent on a sortie to bomb Egypt were diverted to Syria." Israel lost 46 aircraft during the war. Twenty-four Israeli pilots were killed, seven were captured, and 11 were injured. One of the pilots killed in action was Capt. Yoram Harpaz, who was shot down by an Israeli Hawk missile near the Dimona nuclear reactor in southern Israel after returning from a bombing sortie in Jordan. Recordings that were released on Sunday include communications from that incident.
"What about the warning of an attack on the factory [the nuclear reactor]," one person is heard saying. "The Hawks are there, they should have the authorization to fire at will and prevent anyone from entering the airspace," another soldier says. Ten minutes later, the order is made even clearer: "If the Hawks see [something], they should lock on it." Another soldier then says, "You can fire at will."
