The war with Egypt has served to…

The war with Egypt has served to spur Ben-Gurion's drive toward greater militarization.

Although Israel is forced to withdraw from Sinai in March 1957, Ben-Gurion deems the war a success.

Israel has not won freedom to use the canal, but it does regain shipping rights in the Straits of Tiran.

The raids from Gaza cease, UN peacekeeping forces separate Egypt and Israel, greater cooperation with France leads to more arms sales to Israel (and the building of a nuclear reactor), and, most important, the army's near-perfect performance vindicates his view on the centrality of the IDF. (The American-brokered arrangements ending the Suez crisis do not lead to peace negotiations, but they do impose a calm over Israel's southern border that will last for nearly a decade).

A regional arms race begins in the absence of any movement toward peace, and deputy defense minister Peres finds France to be a willing supplier.