Sheldon Richman on the Lavon affair

The Israeli government had earlier tried to prevent a warming of U.S.-Egyptian relations by having saboteurs bomb American offices in Cairo in 1954, an episode that became known as the Lavon Affair.  When Egypt uncovered the operation, Israel accused Nasser of fabricating the plot.  Two of the 13 men arrested were hanged, and their hangings were used as a pretext for Israel's February 1955 attack on Gaza.  Six years later, the Israeli government's complicity was confirmed.

~ Sheldon Richman, "'Ancient History': U.S. Conduct in the Middle East Since World War II and the Folly of Intervention," Cato Institute, August 16, 1991, p. 9

Defense Minister Pinchas Lavon, left, and
IDF Chief of the General Staff Moshe Dayan
 on February 8, 1953