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.Earlier, the Eisenhower administration had offered toimplement an American-sponsored regional water-usage plan, and Israel hadpromised to cooperate in that effort.But in reality, Israel secretly wanted completecontrol of the flow of water in the region, despite its commitments to the Americans.Consequently, a dispute ensued over the control of Palestinian territory near BanatYa qub. 183Unaware of Israel s hidden agenda, UN Representative, Dr.Ralph Bunche, workedout a truce agreement where disputed lands would be evacuated by Syrian forces.Theagreement stipulated that Israel must allow Arab inhabitants to continue farming there.Israel also agreed that it would not occupy the disputed area, but would allow it to bea neutral zone.Immediately after the Syrian troops withdrew, the Israelis broke their promise anddrove the Palestinian farmers from the land.The Syrian troops responded by openingfire to drive out the settlers.Israel responded by complaining that the Syrians hadviolated the truce and asserted a right to occupy the areas.UN Truce Observersimmediately cited Israel as the instigator and essentially stated that the Syrian troopswere justified in retaliating against Israel for violating the truce agreement.The Israelis took the strategy that if they completed the water diversion project atBanat Ya qub, then the UN would back down because the work simply could not beundone.So the Israelis began working aggressively on the project.They worked non-stop, twenty-four hours a day using searchlights at night to hasten completion.Butsecrecy was still key.They omitted appropriations for the project from their publishedbudget.In addition, they did not mention it to Americans working with them on otherwater projects; however, US intelligence soon detected their activity.President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles realized that Israelhad openly deceived them and had no intention of keeping its earlier promise tocooperate in the American-sponsored regional water-usage plan.To show itsdispleasure, the Eisenhower administration withheld $26 million under the MutualSecurity Act and suspended economic aid until Israel agreed to cooperate with UNobservers.In addition, President Eisenhower directed the Treasury to prepare anExecutive Order removing tax-deductible status from contributions by JewishAmericans to such Zionist organizations as the United Jewish Appeal (UJA).Eisenhower did not make these actions public because he did not want to humiliatethe Israelis; however, the Israelis interpreted his magnanimous gesture as a sign ofweakness.As a result, they continued work on the project convinced that theAmericans would back down.Israel s strategy might have worked had Israel not launched a bloody raid on thevillage of Kibya on the night of October 14, 1953.In that attack, twenty-five-year-oldAriel Sharon and his three hundred Israeli commandos, known as Force 101,massacred fifty-three Palestinian civilians.According to a UN report, Sharon s forcesdrove the villagers into their homes then blew them up.The Eisenhower administration condemned the raid and, for the first time, publiclyrevealed that it had already suspended construction funds for Israel s water supply.Their was a huge backlash against Eisenhower.The US government was denouncedby Hadassah, a Jewish charitable organization.An attaché at the Israeli Embassyattempted to divert attention from the water controversy by claiming in a widelypublicized speech that the Kibya raid was in response to Jordanian aggression.Pro-Israeli congressmen and David Ben-Gurion accused Eisenhower and his advisers ofanti-Semitism. 184But Eisenhower stood firm and continued to withhold funds from Israel.Fearing afinancial burden, Israeli representatives informed President Eisenhower on October19 that work had ceased on the water diversion project and that Israel wouldcooperate with the Security Counsil s efforts to solve the Jordan River Developmentproblem.Within twenty-four hours, America restored aid to Israel.Eisenhower demonstrated that Israel responded faster to cutting off the money flowthan anything else; however, the Israelis interpreted America s quick restoration ofaid as proof that they could manipulate the superpower by applying adequate pressure.Ultimately, Israel completed the project in a slightly altered manner.1Nov.1956: The Suez CrisisThe stage was set for the Suez Crisis in 1955 when the Eisenhower administrationbegan pressuring Israel to demonstrate its commitment to peace in the Middle East.On February 28, 1955, President Gamal Adbel Nasser made a speech full of warningsagainst Israeli atrocities.He emphasized a bloody raid on the Gaza Strip by theIsraelis, allegedly a retaliation for raids made from Gaza
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