Let someone else do the job: American policy on the eve of the six day war

Abstract

The closure of the straits on 23 May 1927 placed the Johnson administration in an impossible position. Publicly committed to maintaining the freedom of passage through the straits, its own freedom of action was limited the congress, who insisted that it act only with some form of an international framework. It was obvious that unless something were to be done to open the straits and secure free passage for the Israeli ships, war was inevitable. In the first week, after the closure of the straits, the American administration made efforts to find ways to resolve the crisis, and especially in establishing a naval task force to breach the blockade. At the end of May it realized that there was no practical plan to end the blockade. Accordingly, it reconciled to the prospect of an independent Israeli action to open the straits.