​This photograph shows a meeting between Golda Meir, the Israeli foreign minister, and 13 men, including her deputy and the Israeli ambassadors to Britain, the United States, the UN, France, and the Soviet Union. Golda Meir is debriefing her diplomatic team just before the Sinai Campaign (Suez Crisis).

Golda Meir became Israel’s foreign minister in 1956, and within the first few months of office, the Sinai Campaign (Suez Crisis) broke out. The Sinai War was fought by Israel, Britain, and France against the Egyptian invasion of the Sinai desert. After international pressure from the United States, the Soviet Union, and the UN, the forces withdrew from Sinai. Following the war, UN troops were deployed in Sinai and the Strait of Tiran in the Red Sea was reopened to Israeli shipping. 177 Israeli soldiers were killed in the war and hundreds wounded.