ABSTRACT
When Anwar Sadat heard of Israeli and American reaction to his decision to expel, or as he told the Soviet Ambassador in Cairo, to ‘dispense with’ the services of the 15,000 Soviet experts in Egypt, he knew that his deception plan was working. The Israeli and American experts saw the expulsions as confirmation of their strongly held view that Sadat was bluffing, that he never intended to launch a war, that it was all bluff. Yet the ‘expulsions’ were part of an intricate deception. These experts who had not bothered to study carefully enough Anwar Sadat’s personality and relied too much on his speeches failed to understand that the expulsions had a double purpose. First, he was furious with the Soviet leaders for letting him down, for making him appear like a clown on the world stage by accepting the American call for détente in the Middle East. It was entirely in line with his character that he would react so furiously.
