Michael Davison
Retired Industrial Engineer and Production Manager in Israel
Updated Dec 27

Why did President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt blockade Israeli ships in
the Straits of Tiran and prevent them from passing through the Suez Canal?
When? He blockaded them twice. Once in 1956 and again in 1967.

The first time, he barred Israel-bound shipping from the far East to
pass through the Canal just after he nationalized it and took it away
from France and Great Britain. This was probably because he was still
ashamed of the loss to Arab pride and Arab honor for Egypt being
defeated along with the other Arab states that attacked Israel in 1948.

The second time, he had false facts fed to him by his Soviet military
advisors, who told him they had secret information that the IDF was
going to use the summer exercise in the Galilee as cover for an attack
on Syria. there were no such intentions on the part of the Israeli
government.

However, the Soviet advisors (and their bosses) underestimated the
hatred Nasser had for Israel, so he closed the Straits of Trian to
Israel-bound shipping a second time, violating the 1957 agreement that
followed the Suez Crisis of 1956, which declared the Straits as an
international waterway (Nasser’s excuse was that the Straits were
Egyptian and that Egypt had the right to deny the use of the canal to
any shipping that benefitted an enemy (Israel).

He also demanded, and got, the removal of the UN observation force from
the Sinai Peninsula and loaded the same with Egyptian forces, again
against the 1957 cease-fire agreement.

At the same tine, he publicly made threats of this nature almost daily,
inciting the entire Arab world to join in the boastful claims of what
they would “do to the Jews”. Here’s just a small selection:

"Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel. The Arab people
want to fight . . . The mining of Sharm el Sheikh is a confrontation
with Israel. Adopting this measure obligates us to be ready to embark on
a general war with Israel." – Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser, May
27, 1967

"We will not accept any ... coexistence with Israel. ... Today the issue
is not the establishment of peace between the Arab states and Israel
..... The war with Israel is in effect since 1948." – Nasser, May 28, 1967

"The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the
borders of Israel . . . . to face the challenge, while standing behind
us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab
nation. This act will astound the world. Today they will know that the
Arabs are arranged for battle, the critical hour has arrived. We have
reached the stage of serious action and not declarations." – Nasser,
May, 30, 1967 after signing a defense pact with Jordan's King Hussein

"We are now ready to confront Israel .... The issue now at hand is not
the Gulf of Aqaba, the Straits of Tiran, or the withdrawal of UNEF, but
the ... aggression which took place in Palestine ... with the
collaboration of Britain and the United States." – Nasser, June 2, 1967

"Under terms of the military agreement signed with Jordan, Jordanian
artillery co-ordinated with the forces of Egypt and Syria is in a
position to cut Israel in two at Kalkilya, where Israeli territory
between the Jordan armistice line and the Mediterranean Sea is only
twelve kilometers wide ... ." – El Akhbar newspaper, Cairo, May 31, 1967

Now, before any Nasser or Arab apologists claim it was all bombast and
that Nasser never intended to actually make good on those boasts, read this:

Arab leaders did plan to eliminate Israel in Six-Day War
Op-ed: During the 1967 war, Israel seized Egyptian and Jordanian
operational documents with clear orders to annihilate the civil
population. Nevertheless, different academics are distorting the facts
in a bid to turn the Arabs into victims and Israel into an aggressor.
Here’s the real story.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4968426,00.html
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Ron Barak