Editing Lavon Affair (section)

==Operation Susannah==

===Aim===
In the early 1950s, the United States initiated a more activist policy of support for [[Egyptian nationalism]]; this aim was often in contrast with Britain's policy of maintaining its regional hegemony. Israel feared that the US policy, which encouraged Britain to withdraw its military forces from the [[Suez Canal]], would embolden the military ambitions towards Israel of [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]], the [[President of Egypt]]. Israel at first sought to influence this policy through diplomatic means, but was frustrated.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hahn |first=Peter L |title= United States, Great Britain, and Egypt, 1945-1956: Strategy and Diplomacy |year=2004 |publisher= UNC Press |isbn= 978-0-8078-1942-5 |page= 187 |quote= In late 1954, the Anglo-Egyptian base agreement and American plans to promote a Northern tier security arrangement generated tension between Israel and Egypt. Israeli officials feared that British troop withdrawal from the Canal zone ... would encourage Egyptian aggressiveness toward Israel and remove Western leverage to modify Egyptian behavior on issues such as Suez Canal restrictions.}}</ref>

In the summer of 1954, Colonel [[Binyamin Gibli]], the chief of Israel's military intelligence directorate [[Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel)|Aman]], initiated 'Operation Susannah' in order to reverse that decision. The goal of the Operation was to carry out bombings and other acts of sabotage in Egypt, with the aim of creating an atmosphere in which the British and American opponents of British withdrawal from Egypt would be able to gain the upper hand and block the British withdrawal from Egypt.{{cn|date=July 2022}}

According to historian [[Shabtai Teveth]], who wrote one of the more detailed accounts, the assignment was "To undermine Western confidence in the existing Egyptian regime by generating public insecurity and actions to bring about arrests, demonstrations, and acts of revenge, while totally concealing the Israeli factor. The team was accordingly urged to avoid detection, so that suspicion would fall on the Muslim Brotherhood, the Communists, 'unspecified malcontents' or 'local nationalists'."<ref name="Teveth">{{cite book |author=S. Teveth |title=Ben-Gurion's spy: the story of the political scandal that shaped modern Israel |publisher=Columbia University Press |date=1996 |isbn=978-0-231-10464-7 |page=81}}</ref>

===Secret cell===
The top-secret cell, [[Unit 131]],<ref name="jpost">{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=111769 |title=Binyamin Gibli, Lavon Affair figure, dies at 89 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=2008-08-20 |access-date=25 May 2012 |last=Lappin |first=Yaakov |archive-date=5 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105014846/https://www.dianomi.com/smartads.epl?id=12039&cf=1728.1697.jpost&gdpr_consent=null&gdpr=null&canServeAds=true&canCookie=true&partner_tcf_status=2.0&partnerTcfStatus=2.0&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpost.com%2FIsrael%2FMosque-vandals-influenced-by-flotilla&unitId=dianomi-12039-ZZdf10JQcmOVJ94bIzkTnwAAABQ1&isWaterfall=true |url-status=live }}</ref> which was to carry out the operation, had existed since 1948 and under Aman since 1950. At the time of Operation Susannah, Unit 131 was the subject of a bitter dispute between Aman (military intelligence) and [[Mossad]] (national intelligence agency) over who should control it.

Unit 131 operatives had been recruited several years earlier, when the Israeli intelligence officer [[Avraham Dar]] arrived in [[Cairo]] under the cover of a British citizen from Gibraltar named John Darling. He had recruited several Egyptian Jews, known as ''sayanim'' ({{langx|he|סייענים}}), who had also previously been active in helping Jews flee to Israel, activities that Egypt deemed illegal, and trained them for [[covert operations]].

===Operation commenced===
Aman decided to activate the network in the spring of 1954. On 2 July, the cell detonated bombs at a [[post office]] in [[Alexandria]],<ref name="BlackMorris1992">{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=Ian |last2=Morris |first2=Benny |author-link1=Ian Black (journalist) |author-link2=Benny Morris |title=Israel's secret wars: a history of Israel's intelligence services |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WFm21j2sZBAC |access-date=19 June 2011 |date=1 June 1992 |publisher=Grove Press |isbn=978-0-8021-3286-4 |page=111}}</ref> and on 14 July, it bombed the libraries of the [[U.S. Information Agency]] in [[Alexandria]] and Cairo, and a British-owned theater. The homemade bombs, consisting of bags containing acid placed over [[nitroglycerine]], were inserted into books and placed on the shelves of the libraries just before closing time. Several hours later, as the acid ate through the bags, the bombs would explode. They did little damage to the targets and caused no injuries or deaths.
[[File:Meir Max Bineth.jpg|right|200px|thumb|[[Meir Max Bineth]]]]

Before the group began the operation, Israeli agent [[Avri Elad]] (Avraham Seidenberg) was sent to oversee the operations. Elad assumed the identity of Paul Frank, a former [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] officer with [[Nazism|Nazi]] underground connections. Avri Elad allegedly informed the Egyptians, resulting in the Egyptian [[intelligence agency]] following a suspect to his target, the Rio Theatre, where a fire engine was standing by. Egyptian authorities arrested this suspect, Philip Natanson, when his bomb accidentally ignited prematurely in his pocket. Having searched his apartment, they found incriminating evidence and names of accomplices to the operation.

Eleven suspects were arrested, including Egyptian Jews and undercover Israelis. Elad and Colonel Dar managed to escape. Two suspects, Yosef Carmon and Israeli [[Meir Max Bineth]], died by suicide in prison.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zionist role in 1950s attacks on Iraqi Jews 'confirmed' by operative and police report |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraq-jews-attacks-zionist-role-confirmed-operative-police-report |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en |archive-date=3 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103024352/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraq-jews-attacks-zionist-role-confirmed-operative-police-report |url-status=live }}</ref>