Lavon Affair

The failed 1954 Israeli sabotage operation in Egypt

Overview

In 1954 Israeli military intelligence activated a cell of Egyptian Jews to plant incendiary devices in cinemas, a post office and American and British cultural centers in Egypt, hoping to make the country look unstable and keep British troops at the Suez Canal. The devices caused little damage and the cell was quickly rolled up; two members were executed and others imprisoned. A bitter dispute over who had given the order forced Defense Minister Pinhas Lavon to resign in 1955 and later fed a political crisis that weakened David Ben-Gurion in the early 1960s.