1.9 KiB
| tags | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Suez War refers to the 1956 conflict involving Israel, France, and the United Kingdom against Egypt. The battle plan called for Israel to initiate the attack on October 29, sending paratroopers into the Sinai and destroying Egypt's ability to operate from Gaza. France and Britain would then demand that both sides halt hostilities and withdraw ten miles from the Suez Canal, creating a buffer zone. When the Egyptians refused, France and England would launch bombing and airborne assaults on November 6 to neutralize and occupy the canal.1
The battle plan went much better than scheduled for Israel, which stormed through the Egyptian Army and had captured all of the Sinai by November 4. However, the intervention of the Soviet Union, which issued what was perceived in Israel to be a nuclear ultimatum to David Ben-Gurion, Guy Mollet, and Anthony Eden, forced Britain and France to cease firing. Israel, deserted by its two allies, was forced a few days later to agree to a cease-fire and the eventual deployment of the United Nations' peacekeeping force in the Sinai.1
The Israelis were disappointed by the French and enraged by Dwight D. Eisenhower, who, so Ben-Gurion had believed, would never turn away from supporting Israel in the weeks before the presidential elections. For David Ben-Gurion, the lesson was clear: the Jewish community in America was unable to save Israel. This event solidified the conviction among some Israelis that they could not rely on external powers for their security, reinforcing the drive for an independent nuclear deterrent.1
Footnotes
-
Hersh, Seymour M. The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy. Random House, 1991. Chapter 3. ↩︎