Gamal Abdel Nasser

Gamal Abdel Nasser (January 15, 1918 - September 28, 1970) was the second president of Egypt, serving from 1956 until his death. A founding member of the Free Officers movement that overthrew King Farouk in 1952, Nasser became the dominant figure in Arab nationalism and the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War. His presidency was defined by the nationalization of the Suez Canal, the 1956 tripartite war with Israel, Britain, and France, and Egypt's shifting alliance from the West to the Soviet bloc.¹

Rise to Power and Pan-Arab Vision

Nasser emerged as premier in 1954 after the 1952 coup. His promotion of Pan-Arabism - the idea of a unified Arab nation transcending existing state boundaries - created concern in Israel, which turned to the United States for diplomatic support in response to the growing regional challenge. Nasser's personal charisma and his ability to articulate Arab grievances against colonial powers gave him a regional standing no other Arab leader of the period matched.²

Shift Toward Soviet Alliance

After an Israeli military strike on an Egyptian military camp at Gaza in February 1955, Nasser began seeking arms outside Western channels. At the Bandung Conference of African and Asian nations in April 1955, he secured a promise of arms from Chinese premier Chou En-lai. Soviet delegations arrived in Cairo in July 1955, and by September Nasser announced Egypt would receive 200 Soviet bombers, 230 tanks, 200 troop carriers, and over 500 artillery pieces along with Soviet advisers - a deal that fundamentally altered the military balance in the Middle East and accelerated Egypt's move into the Soviet orbit.²

The Suez Crisis

In July 1956 Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, which had been controlled by a British-French corporation. Britain, France, and Israel conducted secret planning and launched a coordinated invasion in October 1956 - Israel attacking the Sinai while British and French forces seized the Canal Zone. U.S. President Eisenhower, furious at being excluded from the planning and fearing Soviet exploitation of the crisis, forced all three to withdraw. The outcome cemented Nasser's standing as a hero of decolonization and weakened British and French influence in the region dramatically.²

American Intelligence Connections

Nasser maintained complex relationships with Western intelligence figures throughout his presidency. Miles Copeland, a retired CIA officer, was a personal friend. Israeli intelligence believed Copeland was responsible for U.S. pressure on Israel, Britain, and France to withdraw from the Suez Canal area in 1956 and for pushing Israel to withdraw from Sinai. The CIA's interest in Nasser fluctuated between viewing him as a potentially useful nationalist counterweight to Soviet influence and seeing him as a destabilizing force in a region critical to Western oil supply.²

Death and the Uri Geller Incident

Nasser died on September 28, 1970, from a heart attack after hosting the Arab League summit in Cairo. He was 52. His death was reportedly preceded by an unusual event: Israeli psychic Uri Geller, performing a telepathy demonstration at the Tzavta Theater in Tel Aviv, became physically ill during the performance and announced that Nasser "had just died or is about to die." Israeli journalist Ruth Hefer, in the audience, immediately called her contact at Israel Radio International and was told there was no news about Nasser. Twenty minutes later, someone announced that Radio Cairo had confirmed Nasser's death from a heart attack.

The incident was widely reported in Israel and significantly boosted Geller's local reputation. Prime Minister Golda Meir reportedly quipped, when asked about Israel's future, "Don't ask me... Ask Uri Geller." Nasser's successor was Anwar Sadat, who charted a dramatically different course for Egyptian foreign policy, ultimately making peace with Israel through the 1978 Camp David Accords.¹