The suez crisis began on july 26, 1956, when egyptian president, gamal abdel nasser, nationalized the suez canal. The banks of the canal are protected against the wash and waves, generated by the transit of ships, by revetments of hard stones and steel sheet piles corresponding to the nature of soil in. The suez crisis, or the second arabisraeli war, also called the tripartite aggression arabic. Suez crisisa concise history of canadian involvement in the suez crisis from the parks canada website. The suez canal is a sea level canal and the height of water level differs slightly and the extrime tidal range is 65 cm in the north and 1. The 1956 suez crisis is the first example of a preemptive strike after world war ii. Historia actual online, issne 16962060, n 10, 2006, pags. The ostensible reason for the nationalization was to use the tolls to nance the building of the aswan dam. Nassers action was an act of revenge against the british and the french, who had previously held.