the allies control of the northernsector of the Suez Canal.The war was halted by a UN General Assembly resolution callingfor an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of all occupyingforces from Egyptian territory. The General Assembly alsoestablished a United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) to replacethe allied troops on the Egyptian side of the borders in Suez,Sinai, and Gaza. By December 22 the last British and Frenchtroops had left Egypt. Israel, however, delayed withdrawal,insisting that it receive security guarantees against furtherEgyptian attack. After several additional UN resolutionscalling for withdrawal and after pressure from the UnitedStates, Israel's forces left in March 1957.SIX-DAY WAR (1967)Relations between Israel and Egypt remained fairly stable inthe following decade. The Suez Canal remained closed toIsraeli shipping, the Arab boycott of Israel was maintained,and periodic border clashes occurred between Israel, Syria, andJordan. However, UNEF prevented direct military encountersbetween Egypt and Israel.By 1967 the Arab confrontation states--Egypt, Syria, andJordan--became impatient with the status quo, the propagandawar with Israel escalated, and border incidents increaseddangerously. Tensions culminated in May when Egyptian forceswere massed in Sinai, and Cairo ordered the UNEF to leave Sinaiand Gaza. President Nasser also announced that the Gulf ofAqaba would be closed again to Israeli shipping. At the end ofMay, Egypt and Jordan signed a new defense pact placingJordan's armed forces under Egyptian command. Efforts tode-escalate the crisis were of no avail. Israeli and Egyptianleaders visited the United States, but President LyndonJohnson's attempts to persuade Western powers to guarantee freepassage through the Gulf failed.Believing that war was inevitable, Israeli Premier Levi ESHKOL,Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan, and Army Chief of StaffYitzhak RABIN approved preemptive Israeli strikes at Egyptian,Syria...
