ABSTRACT
The Egypt-Israel border extended 250 kilometres from the tip of the Gaza Strip to the Gulf of Aqaba. It was the site of the most intensive interaction between the two countries and the primary source of the second Arab-Israel war. More than a mere line separating hostile armies, the border represented a tangle of legal and political issues which, when exposed to internal and external pressures, produced a steady escalation of tension. This, in turn, greatly influenced other areas of Egypt-Israel relations, resulting, ultimately, in their irreversible drift towards war.
