The 1967 Six-Day War was a turning point for Arab-Israeli relations. The war was a bloody, but short, conflict fought between Israel and the Arab states of Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. After years of diplomatic disagreement and discontent, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) pre-emptively staged airstrikes that crippled the Egyptian army (Shlaim and Louis, 2012). Israel then seized the Gaza Strip and the Sinai from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria and East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan. The war ended quickly with a UN-brokered ceasefire, but the legacy of the conflict continues to dictate Arab-Israeli relations. For the Arab world, the war meant the end of pan-Arab nationalism led by Nasser and, as a result of this disenfranchisement, the return of conservative Islam. On the fringes of Arab society, this fundamentalism has led to an increase in terrorism; now routinely used to discredit the Arab side in Arab-Israeli relations. Likewise, Israel's success in the Six-Day War strengthened conservative Zionism within Jewish society. As a result of this push, right-wing fundamentalist culture continues to control Israeli foreign policy towards the Arab world. Perhaps most important, however, is the bilateral relationship between the United States and Israel born of the Six-Day War. The relationship has created a dangerous co-dependency that continues to see Israel hold the greatest military and economic strength in the region. The Six-Day War led to the rise of extremism in both the Arab and Israeli worlds and to US interference, devastating Arab-Israeli relations. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The Six-Day War led to the decline of Arab nationalism and, subsequently, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, often used by Israel and its countries. allies to discredit Arab foreign policy in Arab-Israeli relations. In the early 20th century there were efforts to build a pan-Arab nationalism more in line with liberal and socialist principles than traditional Islam. The maximum expression of this newfound nationalism was Nasserism, based on the thoughts of Nasser, the second president of Egypt. This model hoped to create Arab unity in the conflict against Western colonialism and Zionism. However, the decline of Nasserism in the face of the Six-Day War discredited this ideology and it was replaced with a return to Islamic fundamentalism. Many in the Arab world believed that abandoning Islam had led to the loss of 1967: “Each of the Islamic jihadists I interviewed said that 1967 marked a watershed for them, a brutal awakening that Arab socialist leaders had them deceived." After the war, the power of Islamic groups grew as growing numbers of embittered nationalists abandoned socialist and liberal ideologies in favor of fundamentalism. Ayman al-Zawahri's journey illustrates this rise. Fifteen years old at the time, Ayman recounted how the 1967 defeat, coupled with the execution of the Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader, Sayyid Qutb, a year earlier, had given him the power to create an organization to replace Nasser with an "Islamist Caliphate." . Many thought the same, jihadist expert Fawaz Gerges, after interviewing those who would later join Islamic jihadist groups, concluded that the defeat in the Six Day War "can be considered the most crucial event that helps us to understand whyIslamic militancy has become a powerful force in the region" (2005). In 1978, Ayman al-Zawahri became the leader of a faction of Islamic Jihad, which called for the liberation of Palestine. In 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated by Islamic Jihad. Two years earlier, Sadat had signed a peace treaty with Israel. In 1988, Osama Bin Laden and others, including Ayman Zawahri, issued a fatwa calling for the overthrow of governments friendly to the United States entitled “World Islamic Front against Jews and Jewry”.Crusaders. This type of extremism has often been used by Israel to discredit Arab foreign policy in Arab-Israeli relations: “Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon now chairs the United Nations Security Council. This means, in effect, that a terrorist organization presides over the body responsible for ensuring global security” (Netanyahu, 2011). Indeed, the Israeli Prime Minister freely admits the way in which Islamic fundamentalism has been used to discredit the Arabs: “We are benefiting from one thing, and that is the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon and the American fight in Iraq. These events turned American public opinion in our favor” (Netanyahu, 2008). Pre-war pan-Arab nationalism was abandoned in the aftermath of the Six-Day War to be replaced by a return to fundamentalist Islam that, in Israel's eyes, would taint future Arab foreign policy. The Six-Day War led to the rise of conservative religious groups. Zionism as the dominant form of Israeli Jewry, a form that continues to shape the state's expansionist policy on Arab-Israeli relations. On June 10, 1967, the atmosphere in Israel was euphoric, the young and relatively small nation had conquered the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria and East Jerusalem, and the West Bank from Jordan. The country was celebrating the defeat of much of the Arab world. Before the war, internal conflict within Judaism over Zionism had called into question the migration of the Jewish people to Israel; many Orthodox Jews believed that they were forbidden to return to Israel until the coming of the Messiah. Now, however, many saw the successful conquest of the biblical homeland as a “sign of God's providence,” which legitimized the occupation of Palestine. The Zionist leader, Hillel Kook, reflected this view: “The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] is total sanctimony. It represents the dominion of the Lord's people over His land." While some within the Jewish community supported the return of occupied Arab lands, the conquest had already given a powerful voice to those who supported the continuation of the occupation and led to the popularity of Jewish fundamentalists who reinforced the concept of a “Greater Israel ”. “It gave rise to a right-wing messianic expansionism and ideology in Israel that didn't really exist before 1967. Once Israel took control of the West Bank and more and more settlements were built, they became a major obstacle that acted against peace." After the success of 1967, a secular Labor government remained in Israel. However, the Six-Day War had empowered the Zionists, and six years later, following the Yom Kippur War, a coalition of political conservatives and religious Zionists came to power. This fundamentalist conservatism, which came to power more than forty years ago, continues to dictate Israeli policy. “…the Six-Day War taught us a lifelong lesson that is the cornerstone: Israel will defend itself against any enemy and against a group of enemies.” This attitude has been reflected in Israeli foreign policy since the country.