Relations between Egypt and the Palestinians started after the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 . Many Palestinians saw Nasser as the only real person who could defeat the Israelis and many of them had sympathized with him and supported him . During the January 1964 Arab League summit , Nasser decided to establish an organization to represent the Palestinians . In May 1964 , the Palestine Liberation Organization or PLO was established . It included various Palestinian factions and its first leader was Ahmad Shukeiri , who was supported by Nasser . But after Egypt was defeated in the Six-Day War in June 1967 , Nasser began to call for peace with Israel . But his traditional allies ( Syria , Iraq , Algeria , and the PLO ) opposed his recent moves and formed a " Rejectionist Front . " In January 1968 , Nasser commenced the War of Attrition against Israel , ordering his forces to begin attacking Israeli positions east of the now-blockaded Suez Canal . In the same month , he allowed the Soviets to construct naval facilities in Port Said , Mersa Matruh , and Alexandria . Then in March , Fatah under the leadership of Yasser Arafat , faced off with Israel in Jordan in what became known as the Battle of Karameh . The Jordanian Army eventually backed Fatah fighters forcing Israel to withdraw its troops without achieving its strategic goal — destruction of the Palestinian fedayeen base . The battle was thus seen as an Arab victory over Israel and Nasser immediately dispatched Mohammed Hassanein Heikal to invite Arafat to Cairo . There , Nasser offered the Fatah movement arms and financial support , but advised Arafat to think of peace with Israel and establishing a Palestinian state comprising the West Bank and the Gaza Strip ; Nasser was effectively ceding his leadership of the " Palestine issue " to Arafat . Eventually Yasser Arafat was later elected President of the PLO
Arab League summit
1964 Arab League summit (Cairo)
Egypt–Palestine relations