Veterans, Bereaved Families Honor Dead of Major Six-day War Battles

Army veterans and bereaved families gathered at the Ein Zeitim forest yesterday to honor the memory of their comrades and sons who died in two decisive battles of the June, 1967 Six-Day War–the capture of Nablus and the break-through in the Golan Heights. They were addressed by Maj. Gen. Mordechai Gur, commanding officer of the Northern Command, who declared that it was the Arabs who forced Israel to resort to arms three years ago. “We did not want that war,” said Gen. Gur, commander of the paratroop brigade that captured East Jerusalem. “The best proof of it was the shock the country suffered when Arab armies began to encircle our borders. With the Egyptian forces prepared to attack, all other Arab armies proclaimed that they too were marching to destroy Israel.” The General warned that “We must be aware today that the enemy still does not want to live in peace with us. We must convince him that there is no alternative to living with us but to make the enemy accept that fact will cost us sacrifices.”