Summary
The secret tripartite protocol signed at Sèvres on 24 October 1956 by Ben-Gurion, Patrick Dean and Christian Pineau, whose full text is reproduced as Appendix 7 of Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, excerpted from Avi Shlaim (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.550-551).
Details
- Israel would launch a large-scale attack on Egyptian forces in the evening of 29 October 1956 aiming to reach the Canal Zone the following day; Britain and France would on 30 October appeal to both sides to halt acts of war and withdraw ten miles from the Canal, Egypt to accept temporary Anglo-French occupation of key Canal positions (PDF p.550-551).
- If either government refused or did not consent within twelve hours, Anglo-French forces would intervene; if Egypt did not accept, they would launch operations against Egypt in the early hours of 31 October, and Israel would not be required to meet the conditions addressed to it (PDF p.551).
- Israel would occupy the western shore of the Gulf of Aqaba and the islands of Tirane and Sanafir; Israel undertook not to attack Jordan, and Britain undertook not to aid Jordan if Jordan attacked Israel; “The arrangements of the present protocol must remain strictly secret” (PDF p.551).
- Ben-Gurion’s diary records the drafting in French, three signed copies, and ratification by France, Britain and Israel on 25-26 October 1956 (PDF p.544-545).
Related pages
Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, Operation Sinai, Avi Shlaim, David Ben-Gurion