In 1956, after Egypt closed the Suez Canal, Israel joined France and Britain in a military effort to take over the Sinai and open up shipping lanes closed by the Egyptians. The U.S. forced the end of the three-country. And leave the Sinai. Egypt learned from the U.S. demand. They repeated the blockade eleven years later, leading to the Six-Day War. There was no U.S. military help during the Six-Day War. The Arab nations received a healthy supply of arms from the USSR. It wasn’t until after the Six-Day War and a meeting with President Lyndon Baines Johnson that the U.S. began to move toward a strong friendship with the State of Israel. In fact, it wasn’t till LBJ was President that the United States became Israel’s chief diplomatic and primary arms supplier.
Soon after the 1967 war, Soviet premier Aleksei Kosygin asked Johnson at the Glassboro Summit why the U.S. supported Israel when there were 80 million Arabs and only 3 million Israelis. “Because it is right,” responded the straight-shooting Texan.
[Straight-shooting in this instance, definitely. I’m not sure that’s an apt description of LBJ overall, though. Be sure to read all of Jeff’s post, though, because he IS a straight shooter, even if he’s in New York. — Ed]
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