Protocol of Sèvres
The Protocols of Sèvres (French,Protocoles de Sèvres) was a secret agreement reached between the governments of Israel, France and Great Britain during discussions held in Sèvres, France between 22 and 24 October 1956, regarding a joint politico-military response to Egypt's president Gamal Abdul Nasser's nationalization of the Suez Canal, which began the Suez Crisis.
Sèvres meeting
On 22 October, Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion, Director General of the Ministry of Defense Shimon Peres and Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Moshe Dayan secretly travelled from Israel to an isolated house in Sèvres to meet the French Minister of Defence Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury, Minister of Foreign Affairs Christian Pineau and Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces General Maurice Challe, and British Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd and his assistant Sir Patrick Dean.[1]
Together, the diplomats and their aides set out the plan of a two-step invasion of Egypt, first Israel had to attack and then the British-French forces would join in.
After 48 hours of negotiations and compromise the seven points agreement was signed by Ben-Gurion, Pineau and Dean. At the insistence of the Israeli diplomats, wanting to prevent being abandoned in the middle of the invasion, each group left Sèvres with a signed copy, written in French.[2]
British denial
Sir Anthony Eden, the British Prime Minister at the time, denied the existence of such an agreement. In 1956, when Sir Philip stated signed copies of the secret protocols existed, Eden, concerned that revelation of the agreement was a threat to the three governments, sent Dean back to France on the 25 October to collect all copies and leave no trace of the agreements. Christian Pineau at the Quai d'Orsay refused as the Israeli diplomats had already left France.[3] The original Israeli copy of the Protocol of Sèvres is said to be kept within the Ben-Gurion Archives, Sde Boker, Israel.
Four days later, Israeli forces marched on Egypt.
Notes and references
- ^ Affaire de Suez, Le Pacte Secret, Peter Hercombe and Arnaud Hamelin, France 5/Sunset Presse/Transparence, 2006
- ^ Release of Suez records, British National Archives, December 2006
- ^ Turner p.299
See also
External links
- Papers of the Suez Oral History Project
- Secrets and lies at the heart of Britain's Middle Eastern folly - One of the Guardian's special reports on the Suez Crisis.
- Avi Shlaim, The Protocol of Sèvres,1956: Anatomy of a War Plot Published in International Affairs, 73:3 (1997), 509-530
- The Dean Memorandum