Covert Diplomacy Between Israel and Egypt During Nasser Rule: 1952-1970

Abstract

The history of Egypt and Israel consists of four wars and hundreds of border incidents that have taken the lives of tens of thousands of people. It seems that only the rise to power of a leader in the stature of Anwar Sadat could put an end to this bloody circle, because the previous president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, was not willing to hold any kind of political contact with Israel. But Nasser’s reign involved constant political contact between Egypt and Israel, most of whom remain confidential. This article attempts to examine whether any of these contacts were likely to succeed and yield a peace treaty between the two countries, an agreement that could have prevented three wars and saved the lives of so many people on both sides. It will do so by examining these contacts, their characteristics, and the reasons for their failure, while dividing them into three periods: the 1948 war to the 1956 war, the 1956 war to the 1967 war, and the 1967 war to the death of Nasser in 1970.