Nasser, Gamal Abdel

1. An Egyptian military and political leader of the twentieth century. Nasser overthrew King Farouk of Egypt (see also Egypt ) in the early 1950s and soon became president. He urged Arab nations to unify against both Israel and European and American influence in the Middle East . He took control of the Suez Canal for Egypt in 1956, provoking a British military attack. In 1967, he provoked a brief and unsuccessful war against Israel, the Six-Day War . Upon his death in 1970, he was succeeded by Anwar Sadat . ( See Suez Canal crisis ; Arab-Israeli conflict .)