In parallel with its efforts to deal with a host of domestic challenges, Israel was compelled from 1948 through 1967 to act decisively to defend itself against its Arab neighbors and lay the basis for longer-term security. This episode opens with the strategic changes that drove the Arab countries, led by Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, to escalate their conflict with the Jewish state between 1948 and 1956. Dr. Polisar then examines the Sinai War of October 1956, in which Israel joined with France and Britain in defeating Egypt, and its surprising diplomatic consequences. The final section focuses on the causes and course of Israel's spectacular victory in the Six-Day War of June 1967, in which it captured the Golan Heights from Syria, the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt, and Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem from Jordan.

Supplemental Materials:

• "Ike vs. Obama in the Middle East" by Michael Doran.