55 years ago/17 May, 1967

The UN Secretary General, U Thant met – besides others – the representatives of the countries providing troops for the UNEF – Brazil, Canada, Denmark, India, Norway, Sweden and Yugoslavia – and informed them of the planned withdrawal if and when he would receive a proper request form the UAR (United Arab Republic/Egypt). The participants had different opinions about the rights moves, some suggested to the Secretary General to be proactive, some suggested to wait for Nasser response. It came up to refer the case to the General Assembly, but it was refused saying it was the prerogative of Secretary General. Practically they got to the conclusion that legally and in general the UN couldn’t do too much just accept the demands of Egypt.

The Secretary General also met Mohamed el-Kony, and asked him to transfer an aide mémoire to Cairo about their conversation the previous day. He also intended to clarify a few points, show his understanding, and to resolve any feelings of Nasser that they didn’t respect the sovereignty of Egypt.

Meanwhile the tension was rising in the Sinai, where the Yugoslav contingent of the UNEF was deployed at the time. General Rikhye had to go to sort out a disagreement with the Egyptian troops. Flying back to Gaza two Israeli fighters tried to force his plane to Israeli soil and fired warning shots. The commander of the UNEF managed to get to Gaza, and Israel apologised later.

In Israel strong statements were done in the previous days, however, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abba Eban suggested to wait for Washington and London. President Johnson asked Levi Eshkol to be moderate, and he stated that he couldn’t take responsibility for any action what they would take without consulting with him before.