Debates of the Israeli Knesset, 1966-1967: Selections from the Records of the 6th Knesset

This annual session of the Israeli Knesset was characterized by important developments in the question of Palestine and Arab-Israeli conflict, since it witnessed the outbreak of the June 1967 war. These translations of the Knesset’s speeches and discussions provide an insight into the circumstances preceding the war and those that immediately followed. The text of Prime Minister Levi Eshkol’s statement to the Knesset announcing the outbreak of war can be found here, as well as the statement he made one week after the war began. The positions of various Israeli political parties and parliamentary blocs concerning the war can be discerned here, as well as the origins of various Israeli policies of territorial expropriation and annexation. These proceedings contain the official Israeli position on the return of Arab territory, the “absentee” property law, the agricultural settlement law, as well as discussions concerning: military rule over the occupied territories, the issue of the displaced people in 1967, the status of the holy sites, electronic surveillance of the borders which prohibited Arab residents from crossing the border and travelling, the displacement of the Bedouins and the prohibition of grazing in certain areas prior to their expropriation, the national Palestinian and Arab resistance against occupation, and the government’s statements concerning the political and security situation. They also feature discussions of such issues as Israeli policy towards the Arabs under occupation, the means of countering Arab radio and television broadcasts, cooperation between Israel and countries of the developing world, armament of regimes opposed to African national liberation movements, Israel’s relations with world Jewry, assistance to Israeli scientists residing in the United States, Israeli media abroad, and others. The volume includes a list of the names of all Knesset members and their political affiliations, Knesset committees, the presidency of the Knesset, political parties represented and their memberships.