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Evidence of a Jewish presence in
Israel dates back 3,400 years. When the
British conquered the area in 1917, they
named it "Palestine" and defined the
boundaries. May 14th 1948, the last
British forces left Haifa, allowing the
Jewish Agency, led by David Ben-Gurion,
to declare the creation of the State of
Israel, in accordance with the 1947 UN
Partition Plan.
From that time on, Israel has had
disputes with its Arab neighbours over
borders, river water and use of the Suez
Canal.
The Six-Day War was fought between
Israel and its Arab neighbours Egypt,
Jordan and Syria. The nations of Iraq,
Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco and
Algeria also contributed troops and arms
to the Arab forces.
The outbreak of war came when Israel
decided their only chance of surviving
the seemingly inevitable war, was to
strike first. June 5th, at 7:45 Israeli
time, the Israeli Air Force (IAF)
launched Operation Focus. All but twelve
of its nearly 200 operational jets left
the skies of Israel in a mass attack
against Egypt's airfields. The Egyptian
airforce consisted of about 450 combat
aircraft, all of them Soviet-built and
with a heavy quota of top-of-the line
MiG-21s. Over 300 Egyptian aircraft were
destroyed and 100 Egyptian pilots
killed.
Israel's casualties at the end of the
war amounted to 759 dead and about 3,000
wounded. Arab casualties came to about
15,000.
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Dassault Mirage
III 1961, French/ Israel, 1,460
mph
Europe's first fighter capable of Mach 2
speeds, the Mirage III was simple,
relatively robust, cheap and available to
anyone who wanted to buy it.
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The Israeli Mirage IIICs first
faced the MiG-21 April 7th 1967
when six Syrian MiG-21's were shot
down by the Israeli Mirages. By the
end of the Six-Day War, Mirages had
shot down 29 Mig 21s, 16 Mig 19s
& 10 Mig 17s using their
2× 30 mm DEFA 552 cannon and
first generation (Matra 530 or the
Shafrir I) air-to-air missiles,
that the Israel pilots described as
extremely unreliable.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Mirage_III
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Mikoyan-Gurevich
MiG-21 1961, Russian/Arab, 1,385
mph
The MiG-21 first faced Israeli Mirage
IIICs April 7th 1967 when six Syrian
MiG-21's were shot down by the Israeli
Mirages. This was a time of tension
leading up to the Six-Day War. On the
first day of the Six-Day War, most of the
Egyptian Mig-21s were destroyed on the
ground although some of the pilots
managed to take off to try and defend
their air bases.
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There seem to be no confirmed
kills of a Mirage III by any Mig.
The poor record of MiGs in the
Six-Day War is believed to have
been because of poor pilot
training, problems with gun sights
and almost useless first generation
soviet air- to-air missiles.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-21
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Hawker Hunter
1956, British/Arab 715 mph
The Hawker Hunter was a jet fighter
aircraft of the 1950s and 1960s. The
Hunter served for many years with the
Royal Air Force and was widely exported,
serving with 19 air forces. Six Hunters
were shot down by Israeli fighters during
the Six-Day War, 2 from Jordan, 3 from
Iraq and one from Lebanon. Hunters of
that time were armed with 4x 30 mm ADEN
cannon. Hunters of the Iraqi air force
are said to have given a good account of
themselves during the Six-Day War.
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While flying a Hunter from an
Iraqi Airbase, Flt. Lt. Saiful Azam
(of the Pakistan Air Force serving
in Iraq) shot down two Israeli
jets, one Dassault Super
Mystère and one Mirage IIIC.
There were more claims of Hunter
victories that were unconfirmed.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Hunter
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Dassault Super
Mystere 1958, French/ Israel, 743
mph
Super Mystere served with the French Air
Force until 1977. In addition, 36
aircraft were sold to the Israeli Air
Force in 1958. The aircraft saw action in
the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom
Kippur War. They were well-liked by the
Israeli pilots and were said to be a
match for the Arab MiG-19 aircraft in
air-to-air combat. Armed with 2× 30
mm DEFA cannon and first generation
(Matra 530 or the Shafrir I) air-to-air
missiles, that the Israel pilots
described as extremely unreliable.
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