ABSTRACT
The underlying cause of the escalation which led up to the Six Day War, in contrast to the 1956 Sinai Campaign, was not disturbance of the balance of conventional armament between Israel and its neighbours. In the period under study, the arming of the Egyptian and Syrian armies by the Soviet Union1 was counterbalanced by Western supply of weapons to Israel, and, above all – for the first time in Israel’s history – US-made weapons systems: ground-to-air missiles followed by tanks and fighter planes.2 The objective of the buildup of the IDF was to enhance Israel’s deterrent capability, and emphasis was placed on upgrading the skills of the fighting units in accordance with the army’s offensive doctrine.
