How did Israel become involved in the Suez Crisis?

Israel’s involvement in the 1956 Suez Crisis was driven by escalating hostilities with the Egyptian government under President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Tensions were fueled by frequent raids from Egyptian-supported commandos into Israel and Nasser’s blockade of the Straits of Tiran, which cut off access to the Israeli port of Eilat.12

Following Nasser’s nationalization of the Suez Canal, Britain and France sought to regain control of the waterway and depose Nasser. They formed a secret alliance with Israel, which viewed the move as an opportunity to preemptively strike before Egyptian forces could achieve strategic superiority using new Soviet-supplied weaponry.23

Under this agreement, Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula in October 1956. This provided the pretext for Britain and France to intervene as "peacemakers" to secure the canal zone. While the military action was eventually halted by international pressure, the conflict resulted in the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force and secured Israel's shipping rights through the Straits of Tiran.123