Protocol of Sèvres

[1] The protocol concerns their joint political and military collusion to topple the Egyptian leader Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, by invading and occupying the Suez Canal zone in response to President Nasser's nationalization of the Suez Canal on 26 July.

The British maintained strong links with a number of Arab countries and did not want any involvement with Israel that might damage them.

[4] Although they were not part of the protocol, the occasion allowed Israel to secure French commitments to constructing the Negev Nuclear Research Center and to supplying natural uranium.

[5] According to the Israeli historian Avi Shlaim, “Rumours and accusations of collusion started flying around as soon as the Suez War broke out but no hard evidence was produced at the time, let alone a smoking gun.... A number of participants have written about the meeting in their memoirs....

In 1957, at Dayan’s request, Bar-On, who had a degree in History, wrote a detailed account of the events that led to the Suez War with access to all the official documents”.

[5] His main objection to the ‘English plan’ was that Israel would be branded as the aggressor while Britain and France would pose as peace-makers.

The problem could be solved by Israel’s expansion up to the Litani River, thereby helping to turn Lebanon into a more compact Christian state.

Britain would restore her hegemony in Iraq and Jordan and secure her access to the oil of the Middle East.

France would consolidate her influence in the Middle East through Lebanon and Israel while her problems in Algeria would come to an end with the fall of Nasser.

He thought that the operation had to be undertaken if Israel’s skies could be effectively defended in the day or two that would elapse until the French and the British started bombing Egypt’s airfields.

"This is a unique opportunity," he wrote, "that two not so small powers will try to topple Nasser, and we shall not stand alone against him while he becomes stronger and conquers all the Arab countries.... and maybe the whole situation in the Middle East will change according to my plan."

At the UN Security Council, the British and the French vetoed an American-sponsored resolution, which called for an end to the Israeli invasion.

When Egypt refused, the British and the French launched their own invasion to secure the canal zone under the guise of separating Egyptian and Israeli forces.