ABSTRACT
In the previous chapters we have seen how Egypt, impelled by the exigencies of domestic and inter-Arab politics, embarked on an increasingly assertive policy towards the Palestine issue. That process was greatly accelerated by Israel, whose political and military initiatives compelled Nasser to take the offensive, and by the Powers, whose intervention provoked both the Arabs and the Israelis and removed checks on the escalation of tensions between them. The interaction of these factors produced a chain of events — the Gaza raid, the Czech arms deal, the nationalization of the Suez Canal — which culminated in an international crisis. But that crisis provided the context, not the cause, of the second Arab-Israel war. The Anglo-French invasion of Egypt was conditioned on Israel's attack in Sinai, not vice-versa. Operation Musketeer merely determined the timing of Operation Kadesh which, in the eyes of its planners, had long been unavoidable.
