Gaza, Israel and Egypt

Ben Gurion’s return as minister of defence in 1954 following the Lavon affair was immediately followed by the Gaza raid which Gurion explained necessary to “teach Egypt a lesson”. This was the most gruesome conflict since the 1948 war, it “changed the nature of the Middle East…the countdown to war began.” It was to mark the return of Ben Gurion and his controversial reprisal policy which Sharett had essentially stopped, Gurion saw Sharett as cultivating “a nation of cowards”. Following this incident Nasser gained notoriety, the arms race between Egypt and Israel began and what was once a regional dispute between Arabs and Jews became an area of superpower competition.

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