Sequestrations and internments after Suez

Following the Franco-British and Israeli Suez expedition, the Egyptian government took sweeping measures against the Jews of the country, assimilated to the enemy regardless of their nationality.

Businesses and assets were placed under sequestration and then confiscated; hundreds of notables, merchants, and community leaders were interned before being expelled. Those expelled were permitted to take only a single suitcase and were required to sign a document renouncing their property and their right to return.

This was the decisive blow dealt to a community already shaken by the attacks of the late nineteen-forties. Within a few years, Egypt lost a population that had lived there since the Hellenistic era and had held a major place in its modern economy.