Earlier this year, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War, We Believe in Israel helped bring three Israelis to the UK to examine the war’s profound significance for Israel and the wider region. We have now published their speeches in this booklet.
The first speech in this booklet is by Dr Einat Wilf, who spoke to audiences in London and Manchester about what the Six Day War means for Israel and Zionism 50 years on. Dr Wilf is a leading intellectual and original thinker on foreign policy, economics, education, Israel and the Jewish people. She was a Member of Knesset from 2010-2013 and was foreign policy advisor to Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres. She has also written four books exploring key issues in Israeli society.
The second speech is by leading Israeli academic, Professor Asher Susser, who discussed how the Six Day War transformed the Middle East. Professor Susser is the Stanley and Ilene Gold Senior Fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University. He is a world-renowned expert on the history and politics of the Middle East and is well known for being able to convey the complexity of Israel’s history in a very succinct and clear way. Professor Asher Susser spoke to an audience in London.
The final speech focuses on the question of peace and seeks to humanise the conflict, by returning us to the personal side of Israel’s victory. Dr Itzhak Ifat, the middle paratrooper in the iconic David Rubinger photo of the moment the Western Wall was liberated, gives a first-hand account of the fighting and the subsequent reunification of Jerusalem. Dr Ifat was brought to the to the UK by We Believe in Israel, the Zionist Federation, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and the World Zionist Organisation. He spoke in London, Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham.
This booklet aims to provide a different narrative on the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War. We seek to personalise the conflict and move the discourse away from aggressor and victim, towards thinking about peace with two states for two peoples.
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