On the subject of the '67 war:

Le Monde, June 3, 1972...

"All those stories about the huge danger we were facing because of our small territorial size, an argument expounded once the war was over, had never been considered in our calculations prior to the unleashing of hostilities. While we proceeded towards the full mobilisation of our forces, no person in his right mind could believe that all this force was necessary to our defence against the Egyptian threat. To pretend that the Egyptian forces concentrated on our borders were capable of threatening Israel's existence does not only insult the intelligence of any person capable of analysing this kind of situation, but is primarily an insult to the Israeli army."

--General Mattitiahu Peled, Chief Quartermaster-General's Branch, Israeli Defence Forces, General Staff


Ma' ariv, April 4, 1972...

"There was no danger of annihilation. Israeli headquarters never believed in this danger."

--General Chaim Herzog, Commanding General and first Military Govemor, Israeli Occupied West Bank


New York Times, August 21, 1982...

"In June l967, we again had a choice. The Egyptian Army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him."

--Menachem Begin


And this from Holocaust survivor and Israeli Jew, Israel Shahak:

I myself well remember how (before I was "in opposition") the necessity of war with was explained to me and others a year before the 1956 war, and the necessity of conquering "the rest of Western Palestine when we will have the opportunity" was explained in the years 1965-67.