On This Day in Jewish History: October 29, 1956

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG7qNJmLmhN/

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#onthisday, 1956, Israel Launches the Suez Campaign against Egypt with the direct support of Britain and France, although at first their involvement was not public.

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Israel’s plan was to invade Egypt via the Sinai in response to Egyptian President, Gamal Abdel Nasser’s nationalization plan in the Suez Canal that blocked the Straits of Tiran from Israeli shipping in Eilat.

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Britain and France were interested in this area because the two countries were involved in trade and oil that would also be blocked with Nasser’s plan.

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Israel’s interests were also to further protect its borders from infiltrators and terrorists (referred as Feyadeen at the time) coming through the Sinai peninsula.

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Nasser promoted general antisemitic rhetoric and violence against Israel such as the call to push all of the Jews from the river (Jordan) to the sea (Mediterranean) – pretty much accounting for every Jew within Israel’s fragile borders at the time.

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#onthisday, led by Chief of Staff of the IDF, Moshe Dayan, Israel launched a surprise attack in the Sinai Peninsula, catching the Egyptian Army entirely by surprise.

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The Suez-Sinai campaign lasted a week and two days – being an overall millitary victory for Israel, the UK, and France while considered a political victory for Egypt.

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The UK and France were forced to fully withdraw (signaling an official end to their presence in the Middle East), Israel occupied the Sinai until May of 1957 to ensure a safe border, UN forces were deployed to the Sinai, and the Straits of Tiran were opened for Israeli shipping

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✍: @jewishistoryguy

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#judaism#jewish#history#jewishhistory#onthisday#suezcrisis#1956#israel#egypt#uk#france#coldwar#proxywar#zionism#straitsoftiran#suezcanal#sinai

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Text Source:

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/background-and-overview-sinai-suez-campaign