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Egypt First Arab-Israeli War
During the First Arab-Israeli War (1948-49), an Egyptian
invasion force of 7,000 men crossed the Palestinian border at Rafah
on the Mediterranean coast and at Al Awja (Nizzana) farther inland
(see
fig. 7). They soon reached Ashdod, less than thirty-five
kilometers from Tel Aviv. But by the time the first truce ended in
mid-July, the Israelis had reinforced their positions, beating off
Egyptian attacks and recovering territory to protect Jewish
settlements in the Negev. By the fall of 1948, the Israelis put
Egypt's 18,000 troops deployed in Palestine on the defensive and
penetrated the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt and Israel concluded an
armistice under United Nations (UN) auspices at the end of 1948 and
later agreed on a cease-fire line that generally followed the
prewar boundary between Palestine and Sinai. But Egyptian forces
still occupied and administered the narrow coastal strip of
southwestern Palestine, the Gaza Strip.
The venality and ineffectiveness of the Faruk regime were the
main causes of Egypt's failures in the war. Although inexperienced,
Egypt's troops had performed well in defensive operations before
being driven back by the Israelis.
A coup d'état in 1952 toppled Faruk's regime and brought to
power younger officers of the Free Officers' movement
(see
The Revolution and the Early Years of the New Government: 1952-56
, ch.
1). From then on, Egypt gave priority to the development of the
military. In 1955 the government enacted the National Military
Service Law, which aimed at reforming and upgrading the armed
forces.
Data as of December 1990
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