Mohammed Hafez Ismail

Mohammed Hafez Ismail, sometimes spelt Muhammad Hafiz Ismail Arabic: محمد حافظ إسماعيل known as Hafez Ismail, (October 28, 1919 – January 1, 1997) was an Egyptian "statesman beyond rank",[1] who's four decade career included military, foreign service and intelligence roles, making his "life read like a foreign policy history of contemporary Egypt".[1]

Hafez Ismail
National Security Advisor
In office
September 1971 – 1973
PresidentAnwar Sadat
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byNone
Director of General Intelligence Directorate
In office
May 1970 – November 1970
PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser
Preceded byAmin Howeidi
Succeeded byAhmed Kamel
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (Egypt)
In office
September 1960 – June 1964
PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser
Personal details
Born(1919-10-28)28 October 1919
Died1 January 1997(1997-01-01) (aged 77)
Cairo, Egypt
Resting placeCairo, Egypt
Spouse(s)Safa Nour
EducationWar College, Cairo, Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Military Staff Academy, Cairo, Staff College, Camberley
Military service
Allegiance Egypt
Branch/service Egyptian Army
Years of service1939–1960
Rank Lieutenant General
CommandsDirector of the Bureau of the Commander in Chief
Battles/warsSecond World War
1948 Arab–Israeli War
AwardsLegion of Merit

After graduating from military schools in Egypt and Britain in 1939, Ismail led an Egyptian unit in the Second World War close to Egypt's border with Italian occupied Libya, and was stationed in Arish and Rafah in the Arab-Israeli War in 1948-49.[2]

Ismail would then take on staff roles, starting as deputy Military attaché to Washington in 1951. After the July 1952 Revolution which established the republic and independence from Britain, he was appointed as Director of the Bureau of the Commander in Chief, Abdel Hakim Amer, where between 1953 and 1960 he was entrusted with rebuilding a post-colonial military, leading secret delegations to the Soviet Union, the more famous of which was the 1955 Egyptian-Czechoslovak arms deal.[2] Ismail also liaised with Syrian military leaders during the Tripartite Aggression against Egypt in 1956, and facilitated the merger of Syrian and Egyptian troops in the lead up to the formation between them of the United Arab Republic in 1958.[2]

In 1960, Hafez Ismail retired from the military and was made deputy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and given the task of modernizing it,[2] before being posted as ambassador to London, Paris, Dublin and Rome between 1963 and 1970.[1]

His career took another shift in 1970, this time to intelligence when President Gamal Abdel Nasser appointed him director of the General Intelligence Directorate in the wake of the 1967 defeat from Israel in the Six Day War.[2] A year later he became National Security Adviser (1971-1974) for Nasser's successor Anwar Sadat,[3] and Presidential Chief of Staff (1973),[4] conducting secret talks with the US in the lead up to the October War that saw Egypt retake the Sinai. After falling out with Sadat who was ignoring his consul,[5][6] Ismail rejoined the foreign service where he was posted to Moscow and later Paris before reaching retirement in 1979.

Hafez Ismail spent his later years writing and lecturing, while holding an honorary post as director of the General Intelligence think tank, the Republican Center for Strategic and Security Studies.

Writings

Amn Misr al-Qawmi fi ‘asr al-Tahadiyyat [Egyptian National Security in an Era of Challenges] (in Arabic). Cairo: Dar al-Ahram li-L-Tarjama, 1987.

‘an al-Diplomasiya wal-Harb [On Diplomacy and War]. al-Ahaly, February 16, 1994.

Siyasat Misr al-Kharijiya fi ‘aqd al-Thamaninat (egypt's Foreign Policy in the 1980s]. al-ahram, October 21, 1991.

Dirasa Jadida: Maza Yajri fi-l-Itihad al-Sovieti? [New Study: What is Happening in the Soviet Union?]. Al-Gomhuriya, August 14, 1988.

References
  1. Sami, Aziza (January 9, 1997). "Obituary: Statesman Beyond Rank". Ahram Weekly.
  2. Ismail, Hafez (1987). Amn Misr al-Qawmi fi ‘asr al-Tahadiyyat [Egyptian National Security in an Era of Challenges] (in Arabic). Cairo: Markaz al-Ahram li-l-tarjama wa-l-nashr. pp. a 15, 21 & 25 - b 45-46 - c 64 & 73 - d 76 - e 155.
  3. Presidential Decree 2403/1971
  4. Presidential Decree 435/1973
  5. Walter, Sheryl P. (October 6, 1978). "FOREIGN MINISTER CANDIDATES?". WikiLeaks Cable 1978CAIRO22445_d.
  6. Kandil, Hazem (2013). Soldiers, spies, and statesmen : Egypt's road to revolt (Paperback ed.). London: Verso. p. 137. ISBN 1781681422. OCLC 840477610.
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