"The Middle East, home of the World's greatest religions and scene of one of the World's bloodiest and most enduring conflicts." "The roots of this conflict lie in one of the swiftest, most spectacular and most devastating wars of the 20th century." "A war that will change the Middle East and the World forever." "Based on eyewitness accounts this a dramatised reconstruction of events as they happened, on one day that shook the world." "It's June the 6th, 1967." "In Britain the Beatles have just released Sergeant Pepper." "In the United States Mohammed Ali has been stripped of his world title after refusing to serve in Vietnam." "In Africa, the rebel province of Biafra has declared independence from Nigeria and in the Middle East the tension which has been mounting for months between Israel and its neighbours has exploded into war." "Now, in Jerusalem, Israel's war against Egypt," "Syria and Jordan is entering its second day." "For the last sixteen hours Israel troops have been under attack from the Jordanian Army, in the divided city of Jerusalem." "The General in charge is Uzi Narkiss" "He's a worried man." "The Israelis are unprepared for the attack, their intelligence on the Jordanian forces is locked in a cupboard in Tel Aviv." "Their temporary headquarters is a school biology lab." "Now Narkiss has to prepare an Israeli counter-assault on Jordanian positions in the East of the city, all he has is this photograph." "40 miles away, in the Jordanian capital of Amman sits the man commanding Arab forces in Jerusalem." "Like Narkiss, King Hussein is a worried man." "For the last 19 years Jordan has ruled the West Bank and East Jerusalem." "In all that time, it's relations with it's Israeli neighbours have simmered just below all out war," "Until now." "Now, Israel and Jordan are locked in a battle for control of Jerusalem, the holiest city in the Holy land." "Since 1948, when the Jewish state was born," "Jerusalem has been divided between Jordan in the East and Israel in the West." "The Jordanians control The Old City, the tiny enclave which is home to the Western Wall." "This is the last remnan of the second temple and the holiest shrine of the Jewish people." "The Old City is also home to the Temple Mount, a vast complex containing the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosques." "Muslims believe the prophet Muhammad ascended to Heaven from this site." "But the Old City is more than a religious shrine for the two men who are about to fight over it." "As a 16 year old, the young King Hussein had seen his grandfather assassinated after Friday prayers at the Dome of the Rock." "That moment, in Jerusalem's Old City, his childhood ended." "Like Hussein, Uzi Narkiss is haunted by Jerusalem." "He is a native of the city and as a child he used to play in front of the Western Wall." "But 19 years ago Narkiss had led the retreat of Jewish forces from the city during Israel's War of Independence." "I have suffered for 19 years from guilt that Jerusalem was divided." "That no Jew remained in the Old City, that the Western Wall had fallen into the hands of strangers." "For one night I held the gate of the city in my hands and it was torn out of them." "Now Narkiss listens carefully to the plan prepared by the Commander of the 55th Paratrooper Brigade, Motta Gur." "Gur and Narkiss have explicit orders not to take the Old City." "Israel's politicians fear that seizing such an emotive prize will lead the country into a religious minefield and store up problems for the future." "But Narkiss worries that if the Israelis don't seize this chance, they might never unify Jerusalem, and he might never get the chance to atone for his failure in 1948." "The plan outlined by Motta Gur will leave Israeli paratroopers at the gates of the Old City, everyone in the room understands the enormity of this moment and the opportunity in front of them." "Narkiss agrees to Gur's plan." "Now he'll wait in hope for the order that will secure his place in history." "12 miles away, in the West Bank village of Beit Nuba, the Zayid family can already hear the Israeli advance." "Ali Zayid's mother and young sisters are frightened." "His elderly uncle Hussein is retelling the story of the murder of 250 Arab villagers at nearby" "Deir Yasim by Israeli irregulars in 1948." "Ali knows the story well, he does not want to leave his home but he fears for the safety of his family should the Israelis arrive in their village." "Beit Nuba is strategically positioned on the edge of the West Bank." "Since 1948 it has been the scene of many clashes between Israel and Jordan." "As he listens to his uncle's terrible account," "Ali knows that the Zayid family's decision on whether to stay in their home or to leave might not be theirs to make." "The soldiers that Ali Zayid can hear are under the control of Israeli Minister of Defence," "Moshe Dayan" "He believes that the Israelis and Arabs will never live peacefully together." "Let us not be afraid to see the hatred that accompanies and consumes the lives of hundreds of thousands of Arabs who sit all around us." "This is the fate of our generation, the only choice we have is to be prepared and armed, strong and resolute or else our sword will slip from our hand and the thread of our lives will be severed." "Dayan has always believed that war is inevitable and if Israel is to survive, she must strike first." "But the politicians have always refused a pre-empted strike, fearing that if Israel is identified as the aggressor in the Middle East her allies in the West will desert her." "What Dayan needs is an Arab leader who can convince the world that he wants to wipe Israel off the map and sweeper the Jews into the sea." "Gamal Abdul Nasser, President of Egypt has long been considered the leader of the Arab world." "His movie star good looks and powerful speeches have made him the darling of the Arab masses." "His is a daring politician who specialises in brinkmanship and since he had nationalised the Suez Canal in 1956," "Nasser has been on a winning streak." "Now he is going to try his luck against Israel." "Nasser is determined to destroy the viability of the small state." "As at Suez, he gambles that his aggressive moves will not be challenged." "On May 16th, 1967 Egypt expels UN peacekeepers from Sinai and moves 100,000 troops into the desert." "It is a provocative challenge." "When the Israelis fail to react, Nasser ups the stakes." "He blockades the port of Eilat, Israel's only Southern port." "One week later Nasser climaxes his campaign with an explosive speech in Cairo, in front of the world's media." "He predicts that Israel will soon be destroyed." "Nasser believes that he has won a victory without a shot being fired." "Who, in Israel, dares call his bluff." "Nasser uses Cairo radio to broadcast his threats to the rest of the Arab world." "The announcer, Ahmed Sa'id, is his favourite mouthpiece." "Nasser, through Sa'id, convinces the Arab world that the victory they have waited 19 years for is only days away." "King Hussein is not impressed by Sa'id's rhetoric and he does not trust the man who has pushed them into war." "The King suspects Nasser has been behind several attempts on his life, and yet now the two men are allies, against Israel." "Hussein has a problem." "Since the birth of Israel in 1948," "Jordan has been home to half a million Arab refugees." "Nasser is their hero." "If the King doesn't stand shoulder to shoulder with the Egyptians against the Israelis, he fears he will be overthrown." "But he knows Israel is strong." "Eight days before the outbreak of war, the King had signed a mutual defence pact with Egypt." "Even as he was signing the pact" "Hussein feared he was making a huge mistake." "Yakki Hetz is part of Israel's 55th Paratroop Battalion." "He is 21 years old." "Yakki is not a natural soldier." "He is an engineering student in Haifa." "Like many Israelis, he would prefer to avoid war, but he has heard Nasser's speeches and Ahmed Sa'id's broadcasts." "In these, Yakki hears the echo of the holocaust." "For Yakki, this war is another life or death struggle for the Jewish people." "The Battalion's target is a fortified hill in East Jerusalem, know as Ammunition Hill." "This hill is one of a number of strategic sites surrounding the city and his heavily guarded by troops from Jordan's Arab legion." "Hetz and his battalion are carrying out the plan prepared by Motta Gur and accepted by Uzi Narkiss less than three hours ago." "Their mission is vital to the Israeli effort." "Capturing the hill will allow the Israelis to encircle the city." "If they can achieve this then the option of seizing the Old City will be open to them." "But although Yakki doesn't know it," "Israel already has a huge advantage over its Arab enemies." "At dawn, 193 aircraft leave Israel for the Sinai peninsula, where the Egyptian air force is lined up like sitting ducks." "Only 12 planes are left behind to guard Israeli airspace." "The Israelis will later claim that they were responding to an Egyptian invasion, but this is not true." "The attack is a pre-emptive strike." "Moshe Dayan has called Nasser's bluff." "For years, Israeli pilots had violated Egyptian airspace, testing for gaps in radar defences, now they ruthlessly exploit these gaps." "The attack is devastating." "In just three hours nearly 300 Egyptian planes are destroyed on the ground." "The ones that do make it into the air, fare little better." "Most of Nasser's air force is annihilated before his pilots have finished their breakfast." "And without air cover," "Egypt's 100,000 troops in the Sinai peninsula are at Israel's mercy." "The fighting on Ammunition Hill is ferocious." "Resistance to the Israeli advance is stronger here than in any other front." "Heavy artillery stalls the Israeli advance and pins down the paratroopers." "The Israeli Para's problems are made worse by their lack of maps." "They are fighting blind." "One by one, Yakki's comrades are killed." "Now the engineering student who hates fighting finds himself leading his men through the network of trenches dug into the hill." "Casualties are heavy and the going is slow." "And time is against them." "If they cannot secure the hill before dawn, then they will lose the cover of darkness." "Then they will be at the mercy of Jordanian snipers." "On the Sinai Peninsula Israel's advance is smoother." "The success of the air attack on the morning of the 5th June has left Egypt's troops in the desert completely exposed." "The Israelis advance steadily." "Egyptian resistance is fierce in pockets but is often uncoordinated and erratic." "The Israelis race past the stricken Egyptians, outflanking them as they limp Westwards towards the Suez Canal." "And when the Israelis pass their enemy they turn and face the chaotic Egyptian retreat." "There they will wait." "15,000 of Nasser's soldiers will not make it back across the Suez Canal alive." "It is nearly dawn, inch by inch Israel's Para's are wrestling control of Ammunition Hill from the Jordanians." "Now, only a handful of Arab soldiers remain, mostly snipers who are concentrating on picking off the advancing Israelis." "The Jordanians have fought bravely but they are being backed into a corner." "One by one the snipers are silenced." "As dawn breaks," "Yakki Hetz and his men emerge from the trenches." "It has taken them four hours to capture Ammunition Hill." "But underestimating the determination of the Jordanian resistance has been costly." "37 Israeli Paratroopers are dead." "Jordan's Arab legion, which had fought a brave rearguard action, has lost 71 soldiers." "Those that survive are shell shocked." "Yakki is exhausted, many of his friends are among the dead." "Only five men in his platoon of 25 are unhurt." "The battle for Ammunition Hill has been one of the bloodiest in the war so far, but it is also one of the most significant." "Capturing the hill has allowed the Israelis to encircle East Jerusalem." "Motta Gur's plan has worked." "The Arab half of the city, including the Old City, is now at their mercy." "Israel is now advancing on all fronts." "The West Bank is under attack." "Village by village, house by house, the Israelis are bringing Jordanian rule to an end." "Ali Zayid wants to leave before the Israelis arrive." "He fears for the safety of his family if they stay put, but his mother wants to stay in their home, she fears that if they leave now, they will never return." "But in reality the family has no choice." "Residents in Beit Nuba are instructed to leave their homes." "As the Zayid's are being forced out, the bulldozers are moving in." "Soon their home will no longer exist." "With Jordanian resistance on the West Bank crumbling, and with the Egyptians in chaos in the Sinai Desert," "Israel's generals realise that they are accomplishing their war aims much faster than they had dare dream." "But there is one target they are holding back on, Jerusalem." "Uzi Narkiss, still holed up in his school Biology lab, is furious at this strategy, and his is not the only one." "Shlomo Goren is the Chief Rabbi of the Israel defence forces, he has rushed to Jerusalem from the South." "For Rabbi Goren there is no dilemma." "The soldier in Goren tells him the Old City must be taken and returned to the Jews." "And the Rabbi in him tells him that God has entrusted this task to the soldiers in this room." "The voices urging Narkiss to capture the Old City and return the Western Wall to the Jews are getting louder." "Narkiss can hear the voices and with all his heart he wants to obey them." "But he is a soldier and his orders are clear." "There is to be no advance on the Old City." "In Cairo, Ahmed Sa'id assures his listeners that everything is going to plan." "In Amman, King Hussein takes a call from Nasser." "Nasser hides from the King the extent of the crisis facing the Arab forces." "The President assures his sceptical ally that the Egyptians are making progress and that Egyptian planes are attacking Israel itself." "But the Egyptian air force no longer exists, and Egypt's divisions in the Sinai are being overrun." "Nasser is desperate, he needs Jordan to stay in the war, he worries that if Hussein knows the truth he will sue for peace with Israel." "Hussein's capital is only 40 miles from the West Bank." "The King decides to leave his headquarters and drive to the edge of the Jordan Valley, overlooking the battlefield, to see for himself how the Arab forces are faring." "He's in such a rush to see with his own eyes what is happening that he leaves his bodyguards behind and is accompanied only by a driver." "From his vantage point high above the East Bank of the River Jordan," "Hussein has a grandstand view of the rout of his army." "The King's worst fears have been realised, there are no Egyptian planes striking at Israel" "Instead Israeli forces are pushing his army back to the River Jordan." "A tide of defeated troops and Arab refugees is heading his way." "The entire West Bank and the Old City of Jerusalem are at Israel's mercy." "I will never forget the hallucinating sight." "Roads clogged with trucks, jeeps and all kind of vehicles, twisted, disembowelled, dented, still smoking, giving off that particular smell of metal, burned by exploding bombs, a stink that only powder can make." "In the midst of this charnel house were men." "In group of 30 to 40 wandered, exhausted." "They were trying to clear a path under the monstrous coup de gras being dealt them by a hoard of Israeli mirage screaming in a cloudless blue sky." "Hussein knows that the Old City will fall as soon as Israel decides to attack." "Motta Gur and his Paratroopers are only a mile away from the old city, ready and waiting for the order to strike." "But on the other side of the world the United Nations Security Council is preparing to go into emergency session." "The carnage in the Middle East has heightened cold war tensions." "The Americans and the Russians are on different sides in the region." "The Soviet Union which regards Egypt and Syria as client states is demanding Israel withdraw immediately to its pre-war borders." "The United States, although supportive of Israel, is already bogged down in Vietnam." "The last thing the Americans want is a shooting war with the Russians." "It is in everyone's interests for a ceasefire to be implemented as quickly as possible." "This is exactly what Uzi Narkiss dreads." "A ceasefire will almost certainly halt any Israeli attack on the Old City." "The latest order arrives from General Headquarters in Tel Aviv." "His orders have not changed, he is not to take the Old City." "Uzi Narkiss fears that the world is about to shut the gates of Jerusalem on him forever." "Uzi Narkiss has known Moshe Dayan for over 20 years." "Each has fought in all Israel's wars and skirmishes with her neighbours since Independence." "Now, on the cusp of their greatest victory," "Narkiss approaches his old friend and pleads with him to give the order to strike." "Moshe Dayan rejects Narkiss's appeal." "He is convinced the Jordanian troops will soon surrender and like many Israeli politicians he fears the international criticism that an attack on the Old City might bring." "With his prize within touching distance," "Uzi Narkiss can hardly contain his frustration." "For the second time in 19 years, the Arabs of Palestine are on the march, into exile." "All across the West Bank and Gaza thousands flee the Israeli advance." "Carrying their lives on their backs, the inhabitants of hundreds of villages and towns face the prospect of spending the rest of their lives as refugees." "Among them are Ali and his family." "The Zayid's home has been demolished." "They have no idea if they will ever return to their village where their family has lived for generations." "Tens of thousands of Palestinians are making the same journey," "East to the Jordan River." "Hundreds will die on the road to Jordan." "Those that survive the journey through the war zone in the scorching heat face an uncertain future in overflowing refugee camps." "June the 6th, 1967 has been the worst day of Ali's life." "He doesn't hold out much hope that June the 7th will be any better." "Dawn over Jerusalem, it is the first lull in nearly three days of fighting." "With his men surrounding the city, and with the Arabs everywhere in retreat," "General Narkiss has tried to take a few hours rest, but he had been unable to sleep." "On the other side of the world, the Security" "Council has been busy." "The United Nations has finally agreed that a ceasefire should be called, from midday June 7th, in five and a half hours time." "Moshe Dayan changes his mind." "Israel must strike, now." "At last Uzi Narkiss has his wish." "After 19 years he will lead Israeli forces back into the Old City." "Narkiss acts quickly." "He contacts Motta Gur and orders him to prepare the assault." "Gur and his men are poised on the Mount of Olives, overlooking East Jerusalem." "Motta Gur's troops advance down the Mount of Olives towards the Old City below." "As they approach the ancient walls they come under heavy sniper fire from the Jordanians inside." "The Old City has been stormed many times before but never before has it been the target of such a focused and technologically advanced assault." "Narkiss has given Gur orders to secure the city as fast as possible." "The ancient walls tremble as the Israeli tanks approach and the ground shakes as artillery shells land all around." "The Israelis fear that their troops will be easy targets for snipers in the narrow streets." "Tanks are used to crush the Jordanian resistance and to clear a path." "Orders are given not to fire on churches and mosques," "Moshe Dayan does not want the bad publicity the destruction of a religious site will bring." "But as Gur's men enter through the Lion's Gate, only 300 metres from the Western Wall, bullets ricochet off the ancient stone and artillery fire shakes the Old City to its foundations." "The imminent ceasefire affects Israeli plans in the Sinai Peninsula as well as Jerusalem." "With the Egyptian army in chaos, the Israelis realise they have one chance to deal a devastating blow to what remains of Nasser's armed forces." "The Egyptians plans for an orderly retreat have been abandoned in the teeth of Israel's remorseless advance." "Lacking air cover, Nasser's divisions in the Peninsula start to collapse." "It is every man for himself on the road back to the Suez Canal." "But in the confusion Nasser's men are not aware that the Israelis have outflanked them." "In Cairo, a fiction of an imminent Arab victory is maintained." "In reality, the Egyptian forces are facing annihilation." "Disorganised, leaderless and battered by incessant Israeli bombardment from ground and the air," "Egypt's soldiers struggle through the narrow rocky passes of the Sinai Peninsula." "But no-one covers the retreat." "No-one organises an orderly rearguard action, the result is devastation." "Thousands of Egyptian troops are killed on the road home." "In less than 48 hours, virtually all of Egypt's armed forces, on the ground and in the air, are destroyed or surrender." "The battle for the Old City has degenerated into a street fight between Motta Gur's advancing troops and the retreating Arab legion." "Unable to mount a full scale response to the Israelis, the Jordanian soldiers concentrate on Guerrilla tactics, well suited to the warren of narrow lanes that make up the Old City." "As the Israelis advance they take casualties." "But gradually, the city succumbs." "The streets are soon flooded with Israeli soldiers." "All of them have one target, the Western Wall, directly beneath the Temple Mount." "Motta Gur and his men are among the first to reach the vast complex containing the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosques." "His broadcast at 10am becomes the most famous moment of the war for Israelis." "Following close behind is Rabbi Goren and he has prepared for this moment." "He has brought with him two scrolls from the Torah as well as a Shofar, a ceremonial horn which is blown on auspicious occasions." "In a narrow lane, in a Moroccan quarter of the Old City," "Goren reaches the Western Wall, the holiest shrine of the Jewish people." "For Israelis, this is the emotional climax of the war." "1,897 years after the Romans expelled them from Jerusalem 22 years after six million died in the Holocaust," "19 years after the birth of Israel and three days after the start of the war, the Jews have returned to their temple." "But theirs is not the only temple in Jerusalem." "The Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosques from where Muhammad ascended to Heaven are quickly overrun by Israeli soldiers." "An Israeli flag is hoisted in triumph." "For two hours, the Star of David flies over the third holiest site in the Muslim world." "Humiliation is added to defeat." "When Moshe Dayan hears of this he is furious and orders the flag to be taken down." "And as the battle dies down" "Israeli Paratroopers converge on the wall." "In its short existence" "Israel has been a steadfastly secular country," "But arrival at the wall reconnects the modern state of Israel with the ancient roots of the Jewish people." "Yakki Hetz is still in shock from the battle." "His feelings of joy at this historic moment are tempered by a sense of loss for his dead comrades, but news of the victory travels to every corner of the Jewish Diaspora." "The Old Prayer next year in Jerusalem, the generations have recited every Passover has finally been answered." "For Uzi Narkiss, the sense of achievement and personal redemption is overwhelming." "This time he vows to himself he will not let Jerusalem go." "But Narkiss does not have time to savour the moment." "Once again Rabbi Goren would like a word with him." "Goren's suggestion, the destruction of the Mosques on the Temple Mount, shocks Narkiss." "Yesterday Shlomo Goren had urged Narkiss to return the Western Wall to the Jewish people, now the Rabbi wants him to blow up a mosque." "One by one, the problems that will bedevil Israel for the next 40 years are falling into place." "Ali Zayid and his family have crossed the River Jordan and are in one of the sprawling refugee camps on the Jordanian side of the river." "They have lost everything." "Their home, their possessions and any hope of returning to their old life." "The West Bank, once part of Palestine, then part of Jordan, is now occupied by Israel." "The life that Ali Zayid and his family once knew has gone forever." "175,000 Palestinians will flee across the Jordan over the following seven days." "This will bring to nearly 1,000,000 the number of Arabs displaced from their homes." "Despite the overwhelming evidence of the military and civilian catastrophe which has befallen the Arabs," "Nasser's mouthpiece Ahmed Sa'id is still proclaiming victory." "The fall of Jerusalem provokes chaos in Arab ranks." "The Israelis press home their advantage on other fronts." "And launch an attack to seize the Golan Heights from Syria which has proved to a toothless ally to Jordan and Egypt and complete the capture of the Gaza Strip." "The Arab armies suffer one of the most comprehensive defeats in history." "The Egyptians lose 15,000 men and 700 tanks as well as their entire airforce." "85 per cent of Egypt's military hardware is destroyed or captured." "King Hussein watches the Israelis finish off his army." "He realises that his decision to stand shoulder to shoulder with Nasser has been the worst mistake of his life." "Moshe Dayan had longed believed that Israel would need to fight a war with its Arab neighbours." "Nasser's brinkmanship had given him his chance." "With his one good eye on posterity," "Dayan has invited the World's media along to share his celebrations." "It is traditional for worshippers to place a prayer in the giant stones of the Western Wall." "Moshe Dayan, Israel's greatest soldier, has a simple wish." "His prayer reads, May Peace come to Israel." "By the time a ceasefire that all sides can agree to comes into force on the evening of Saturday the 10th June," "Israel has defeated the armies of three nations in just six days." "She has quadrupled the territory under her control." "Now the state of Israel stretches from the Suez Canal to the Golan Heights, from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea." "Yakki Hetz thought he was not a natural soldier, but he was wrong." "He was decorated for his bravery on Ammunition Hill." "For Yakki the Six Day War was a just war." "He fought because he feared that King Hussein and Gamal Abdul Nasser were preparing to destroy Israel." "But he also believed it would be Israel's last war." "That such an overwhelming victory would bring peace." "Instead, his whole life's been dominated by Israel's continual battles with its neighbours." "This, as Moshe Dayan predicted, is the fate of Yakki's generation." "Nearly 40 years after being part of a day that shook the World," "Yakki Hetz prays that it will not be the fate of succeeding generations."