The Origins of the Second Arab-Israel War: Egypt, Israel and the Great Powers, 1952-56

225 Pages·1992·6.66 MB·English

by  Michael B. Oren

ORIGINS OF THE SECOND ARAB-ISRAEL WAR
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Origins of the
Second Arab-Israel War
EGYPT, ISRAEL AND THE
GREAT POWERS
1952-56
Michael B. Oren
Ben-Gurion Research Center
Ben-Gurion University
o/the Negev
FRANKCASS
First published in 1992 in Great Britain by
FRANK CASS & CO. LTD.
2 Park Square, Milton Park,
Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and in the United States of America by
FRANKCASS
270 Madison Ave,
New York NY 10016
Transferred to Digital Printing 2005
Copyright © 1992 Michael B. Oren
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Oren, Michael B.
Origins of the second Arab-Israel war: Egypt,
Israel and the great powers, 1952-56.
I. Title
956.046
ISBN 0-7146-3430-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Oren, Michael.
Origins of the second Arab-Israel war: Egypt, Israel, and the
great powers, 1952-56/ Michael B. Oren.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7146-3430-1
1. Sinai Campaign, 1956--Causes. 2. Middle East-Politics and
government-1945-79. I. Title
DSllO.5.074 1992
956.04' 4-dc20 91-22477
CIP
All rights reserved. No part oft his publication may be reproduced in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission ofF rank Cass and Company Limited.
Typeset by Regent Typesetting, London
For my parents, Lester and Marilyn Bornstein,
who taught me to appreciate the deepest
and most enduring of all relations
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
List of Maps xiii
Chronology xiv
Preface xxi
Introduction 1
Historial Background: A Context of Change and
Instability 1
The Arab-Israel Conflict 5
1. THE BORDER 9
The Border in the Aftermath of the July Revolution 13
The Border Under Sharett and Nasser 19
The Border in Great Power Diplomacy 21
From Gaza to Khan Yunis 25
Escalation and Intervention 31
The Border as Casus Belli 36
2. BOYCOTT AND BLOCKADE 39
The Free Officers Inherit the Blockade 42
The Evacuation 49
Israel Against the Evacuation 50
Egypt-Israel Relations and the Suez Crisis 55
3. THE STRUGGLE OVER REGIONAL DEFENCE 60
First Encounters with MEDO 61
MEDO Revived 63
En Route to the Northern Tier 66
Between Baghdad and Gaza 68
Egypt Triumphant, Israel Excluded 70
The Struggle for Jordan 72
Suez: An Epilogue 75
vii
ORIGINS OF THE SECOND ARAB-ISRAEL WAR
4. THE ARMS RACE 77
American Arms for Egypt 79
Israel's Search Thwarted 82
Genesis of the Egypt-Czech Arms Deal 85
Israeli Efforts Frustrated and Fulfilled 88
The Final Stretch of the Arms Race 91
5. SECRET EFFORTS FOR PEACE 95
The Free Officers and the Question of Peace 99
1953 : Year of Expanded Contacts 102
Denouement of the Direct Contacts 104
The Rise and Fall of Project Alpha 109
The Guildhall Formula 117
Operation Gamma: America's Last Gamble 121
Last Efforts for Peace 125
6. DESCENTTOWAR 129
Israeli Plans for the Conquest of Gaza 130
Operation Orner: The Drive Towards Tiran 132
The Powers Prepare for War 135
The Linking of Operations Kadesh and Musketeer 138
7. CONCLUSION 145
Notes 152
Appendices 180
Bibliography 189
Index 195
viii
Acknowledgments
This work would not have been possible without the assistance - finan
cial, physical and emotional - of many people and institutions.
My research in Britain, the United States, Israel and Egypt was
facilitated through the generosity of Princeton University, the Lady
Davis Fellowship Trust and the Truman Institute of Hebrew University,
the British Council, and the Ben Gurion Research Center of Ben Gurion
University. I am particularly grateful to the librarians and staff of the
Eisenhower Archives, the John Foster Dulles Papers, the Truman In
stitute, the Israel National Archives, and the Israel Academic Center in
Cairo. Special thanks are reserved for Lili Adar and her assistants at the
Ben Gurion Archives in Sde Boker.
Throughout the course of my research and writing I enjoyed the advice
and support of a great many people. The concept behind the study, which
resulted in my doctoral dissertation, 'From Revolution to Crisis:
Egypt-Israel Relations, 1952-1956' (Princeton, 1986), was developed in
consultation with Professors Norman Itzkowitz and Charles Issawi of
Princeton. I am also indebted to Professors Bernard Lewis and Sasson
Somekh, of Princeton and Tel Aviv Universities, respeCtively, who
served as readers for the dissertation. The adaptation of the thesis into
book form was accomplished with the help of Professor Itamar
Rabinowitz of Tel Aviv University and Dr Raymond Cohen and Dr
Yakov Bar Siman-Tov of Hebrew University. Invaluable assistance in
locating sources was rendered by Professor Shimon Shamir and Mr Eli
Podeh of Tel Aviv University, and by Lieutenant Colonel Zev Lachish of
the Historical Research Branch of the Israeli Air Force.
For their contribution to my understanding of the Suez period, I wish to
thank the Honourable Chaim Herzog, the President ofthe State ofIsrael,
and Teddy Kollek, the mayor of Jerusalem, Mordechai Gazit of the
Truman Institute and Dr Muhammad al-Wahbi, Assistant Secretary of
State for Information of Egypt, for their time and insights.
Acknowledgements are due to three Princeton undergraduates,
Jonathan Karp, Paula Russo, and Fredrick Frank, who donated their
energies toward the formidable tasks of checking sources, collating and
map-making, and to Mrs Judy Gross and Mrs Mary Craporotta, adminis
trative assistants at Princeton's Department of Near Eastern Studies,
who provided an 8,OOO-mile lifeline between me and the Department.
My deepest gratitude is reserved for Professor L. Carl Brown, my
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