U.S.-Israeli relations. Eisenhower was furious at being misled by Britain, France, and
Israel; his letters to Ben-Gurion were among the bluntest ever sent by a U.S. presi-
dent to an Israeli leader.
The Suez crisis, the last gasp of European imperial intervention in the Middle
East, made the United States the foremost outside actor in the region, followed closely
(for a time) by the Soviet Union. Washington developed increasingly close relations
with Israel and, until the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, also remained on good terms with
most of the Arab world (October 1973 War, p. 112).
Following are three documents related to the Suez crisis: an English translation of
the original French text of the agreement signed at Sèvres, France, on October 24,
1956, by Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion, French foreign minister Chris-
tian Pineau, and Patrick Dean, a senior official of the British Foreign Office; text
of UN General Assembly Resolution 997, adopted on November 2, 1956; and the
text of a letter from U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower to Israeli prime minis-
ter Ben-Gurion on November 7, 1956 (released to the public on November 8,
1956), stating his concern that Israel withdraw from Egyptian territory.DOCUMENT
Protocol of Sèvres
OCTOBER24, 1956The results of the conversations which took place at Sèvres from 22 to 24 October
1956 between the representatives of the Governments of the United Kingdom, the
State of Israel and of France are the following:
The Israeli forces launch in the evening of 29 October 1956 a large scale attack
on the Egyptian forces with the aim of reaching the Canal Zone the following day.
- On being apprised of these events, the British and French Governments dur-
ing the day of 30 October 1956 respectively and simultaneously make two appeals to
the Egyptian Government and the Israeli Government on the following lines:
A. To the Egyptian Government
a) halt all acts of war.
b) withdraw all its troops ten miles from the Canal.
c) accept temporary occupation of key positions on the Canal by the Anglo-
French forces to guarantee freedom of passage through the Canal by vessels of
all nations until a final settlement.B. To the Israeli Government
a) halt all acts of war.
b) withdraw all its troops ten miles to the east of the Canal.ARABS AND ISRAELIS 83