When the Free Officers deposed the king of Egypt in 1952, Israel hoped that the new regime would concentrate on solving Egypt’s social problems and be willing to make peace. Instead, Gamal Abdel Nasser, who became prime minister in 1954 and wanted to become the leader of the Arab world, threatened a “second round” of war. Tensions increased as Nasser encouraged Palestinian terrorists to attack Israel from Gaza, which was then under Egyptian control, prompting Israeli retaliatory strikes.
The arrest of a group of Egyptian Jews accused of sabotage and spying for Israel in the summer of 1954 exacerbated the situation. The involvement of Israeli intelligence in this affair, known as the “unfortunate mishap,” became known to Prime Minister Moshe Sharett only after the arrest and was kept secret from the public. The government did everything possible to help the accused. Unofficial contacts with the Egyptian junta were held, in which the two sides discussed an understanding between them. Sharett wrote a letter to Nasser seeking the right to free passage through the Suez Canal and leniency for the accused Jews as part of these efforts.
Sharett’s hopes of halting the deterioration of relations with Egypt were not realized. Two of the accused were sentenced to death and the rest to long terms in prison. Nasser subsequently nationalized the Suez Canal, leading to the secret agreement between Israel, France and Great Britain to attack Egypt in the Sinai Campaign.
Source: Israel State Archives