Summary
General commander of the French forces and deputy commander of the entire Anglo-French operation in the Suez war, who in Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace is the French officer who, on the afternoon of 29 October 1956, received the IDF Chief of Staff’s request for French naval shelling of Rafah and al-Arish and procured it — with the British supreme commander Keightley’s “All right, but you did not ask me and I promised you nothing, do what you want” — the Georges Leygues firing 350 shells at the Rafah positions in two hours on the night of 30-31 October (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.331-333).
Details
- Barjot told journalist S. Segev no more than: “The French army is also a partner in your victory in Sinai” (Maariv, 31/10/58); Segev notes Barjot “took an active part in the Sinai-Suez war, one could even say, a not important part” [as printed] (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.331).
- On 29 October, shortly after the IDF paratroopers dropped on Mitla, Israel’s military attaché in Paris, Colonel Emmanuel Nishri, transmitted Dayan’s urgent request to Barjot for artillery support from French ships patrolling Israel’s coasts, shelling Rafah on the night of 30-31 October and al-Arish the next night; Barjot easily procured the French navy commander’s agreement (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.332).
- The book’s comment: Barjot needed no French government agreement to activate naval forces for a warring party before the ultimatum was given, only the navy commander’s — meaning the French government had already decided on the military operation (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.333).
Related pages
Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, France, Operation Sinai, Moshe Dayan