Sikap British Terhadap Penglibatan Jordan dalam Perang Enam Hari Arab Israel, Jun 1967

British Attitudes Toward Jordan's Involvement in the Sixth Day Arab-Israeli War, June 1967

Abstract

This study analyses the British’s attitude towards Jordan’s involvement in the Sixth day Arab Israeli War of June 1967.  The Arab coalition was defeated in the war and subsequently the Arab territories were occupied by the Israelis. In Jordan, the Zionist regime occupied the West Bank including the eastern part of Baitul Maqdis which was under the Jordanian controls since 1948. Jordan loss of the war caused a significant impact on the political survival of King Hussein. This is due to the influence of the Arab radicalism and Palestine’s nationalist groups who resided at the East Bank of Jordan. There were two main issues plagued the king which were the influx of the new Palestinian refugees into Jordan’s soil and the occupation of Baitul Maqdis by the Zionist regime. These issues were not just a threat to the King’s throne and political survival but contributed a significant impact on the British’s strategic position in West Asia. By applying a history discipline methodology, most of the sources referred and interpreted in this study are the archival documents of the British government official records obtained from The National Archive in London. The analysis of the British’s action during the war indicated the actual British’s attitude towards King Hussein during the war. The findings of this study concluded that the motive of the British’s attitude towards King Hussein was to protect London’s interest in West Asia, particularly among the Arab moderate regimes.

Received: 5 November 2022

Reviewed: 27 November 2022

Accepted: 7 December 2022