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|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 [^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 3.