Israel ‘Re-Tweets’ 1967 War As It Happened

Israel’s army was Wednesday giving a “live” blow-by-blow account of the 1967 Six Day War, tweeting each air strike at the exact time it occurred 46 years ago in an epic replay which began early in the morning.

@IDF1967 “is an official Israel Defense Forces account that is aimed at retweeting the events of the Six Day War in live time,” an army spokesman told AFP.

The account was tweeting key events in the battle against the armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria that took place from 5 to 10 June 1967, and includes pictures and videos, the army said.

The tweets are mostly in Hebrew, with some translated into English.

 “In response to repeated provocations by Egypt, the State of Israel and the IDF are going to war. We will not sit idly as the enemy forces tighten the noose around our necks,” the opening tweet said around 8:00am (0500 GMT) when Israel landed its first pre-emptive air strike 46 years ago.

By Wednesday afternoon, @IDF1967 had more than 1,000 followers, its posts showing pictures of Israeli soldiers and tanks in Sinai, and various other battle footage.

The microblogging project began as Israel and the Palestinians separately marked the start of the 1967 conflict, when Israeli forces seized Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, with the Palestinians mourning it as the “naksa” or setback.

Al Arabiya with AFP