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Israel set to celebrate 50th anniversary of Six Day War victories

Remarking on the 50th anniversary of Israel’s victories in the 1967 Six Day War, Netanyahu said the war was “one of the greatest victories in the history of Israel.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that Israel will be conducting a number of celebratory ceremonies in honor of Israel’s liberation of Judea, Samaria, and the Golan Heights 50 years ago during the 1967 Six Day War.

“Today the Cabinet will approve a decision about the celebrations to mark 50 years since the liberation of Judea, Samaria, and the Golan Heights,” Netanyahu said at his weekly Cabinet meeting.  “We will mark the 50th anniversary with a series of events.”

In the Six Day War Israel won Judea and Samaria from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria, and Gaza and the Sinai peninsula from Egypt, massively expanding its boundaries under the 1949 armistice lines.

“The Six Day War was one of the greatest victories in the history of Israel,” remarked Netanyahu. “It brought us back to parts of our homeland and completely changed our strategic situation.”

The Sinai Peninsula was gradually returned to Egypt some 12 years later as part of the Camp David peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew all soldiers and approximately 8,500 Jews from the Gaza Strip, handing the territory to the Palestinians.

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The 50th anniversary will also celebrate Jerusalem’s reunification.

“We will also celebrate the liberation of Jerusalem,”  Netanyahu added.  “The main event will take place at Kfar Etzion and I thank Culture Minister Miri Regev and Minister Naftali Bennett for their cooperation in promoting these celebrations.”

Kfar Etzion, southwest of Jerusalem in the Gush Etzion regional bloc of communities in Judea, was destroyed during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence and resettled after the Six Day War.

By: World Israel News Staff