Israel’s founding Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion described the Gaza Strip as an “embarrassing” objective and said he wished it would be “swallowed by the sea”, according to military archives released this week.
The remarks were made at a Cabinet meeting on October 28, 1956, and form part of more than 4,500 documents, photographs and maps published by the Israel Defence Forces and the Defence Establishment Archives to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Sinai Campaign.
“We have to take it”
Ben-Gurion’s words were later quoted at a conference of senior Israeli military officers on April 4, 1957.
“The Gaza Strip is an ’embarrassing’ objective,” he said. “We have to take it. If I believed in miracles, I would wish for it to be swallowed by the sea.”
Three options for Gaza
The records detail government discussions on how Gaza should be run after the campaign. Ben-Gurion outlined three possible arrangements: direct Israeli rule, Israeli administration with United Nations involvement, or UN administration without Israel.
He called Egyptian rule the worst option but acknowledged the difficulties Israel would face if it kept control of the territory. Staying in Gaza, he argued, could expose Israel to international isolation and force it to suppress terrorism, responsibilities he considered beyond the country’s capabilities and vital interests.
He also warned that the next conflict would not resemble the 1956 campaign.
Peres on “contradictory” decisions
The archive also contains documents involving other senior officials, including Shimon Peres. Peres described Ben-Gurion as having made two apparently contradictory decisions: going to war and then withdrawing. He also wrote that an Israeli military victory would not necessarily end the conflict, while an Arab victory could have more decisive consequences for Israel.
The online archive, launched by the IDF and the Defence Ministry, covers intelligence, military operations, cooperation with France and the evacuation of Jewish residents from Port Said, Egypt, among other aspects of the campaign.
