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The closure of the Suez Canal from November 1956 to April 1957 was caused by the Second Arab–Israeli war also known as the Suez Crisis in 1956. On 26 July 1956 Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal from British and French investors who owned the Suez Canal Company, causing Britain and France to devise a military operation with the help of Israel to invade the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula and have British and French paratroopers drop in to protect the Suez Canal, but the objective was to take the canal back. The United States and Soviet Union condemned the invasion and de-escalated the situation by early 1957.

Oil supply through the canal

Around 66% of oil that Europe consumed at the time came through the Suez Canal from mostly Arab States.

Aswan Dam project

The United States was initially going to help fund the Aswan Dam but reneged on their earlier commitment because Egypt was cozying up to Communist influences in the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and recognizing the Chinese Communist Party as the government of China. Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal to get the transit fees from that to help fund the Aswan Dam project.

Egypt blockade of Straits of Tiran

In the aftermath of the Suez Crisis, growing tensions between Egypt and Israel resulted in the blockade of the Straits of Tiran. This action was followed by diplomatic protests by the Israeli government, as the blockade prevented passage through this international waterway and blocking safe passage of civilian ships to the Port of Eilat, Israel's southern port, and was contradictory to an Egyptian proclamation of freedom of access on 28 January 1950.

The Israel government followed through with stated warnings that it considered the blockade of the Straits of Tiran a casus belli, launching attacks on Egyptian forces in the Sinai. In the ensuing Six-Day War (5–10 June 1967), Israel gained control of Sinai Peninsula. Egypt launched the 1973 Yom Kippur war (6 to 25 October 1973) to try and regain control of the Suez Canal; while militarily defeated, the postwar negotiations resulted in renewed diplomatic negotiations via the Kilo 101 talks, which eventually lead to the 1979 peace talks.

In 1982, the Sinai was returned to Egypt and diplomatic relations normalized through the successful Egypt–Israel peace treaty.

See also

• Closure of the Suez Canal (1967–1975)
• 2021 Suez Canal obstruction
• Arab–Israeli conflict
• Israeli passage through the Suez Canal and Straits of Tiran
• Six-Day War

References

1. "Historical Diplomacy Simulation: Suez Canal Crisis – National Museum of American Diplomacy". 25 May 2021.
2. "How the (Closure of the) Suez Canal changed the world". 31 August 2014.
3. "Suez Crisis".
4. "Suez Crisis, 1956". 13 December 2007.
5. Barak, Eitan (2007). "Between Reality and Secrecy: Israel's Freedom of Navigation through the Straits of Tiran, 1956-1967". Middle East Journal. 61 (4): 657–679. ISSN 0026-3141.
6. Staff, C. I. E. (29 October 2024). "Egyptian-Israeli Military Talks Begin at Kilometer 101". CIE. Retrieved 20 January 2025.

• Suez Canal
• Egypt–United States military relations
• Suez Crisis
• History of the foreign relations of Egypt
• 1956 in international relations
• 1957 in international relations
• 1956 in economic history
• 1957 in economic history
• Economic history of Egypt