On 6 June 1967, the Suez Canal was closed shortly after the start of the Six-Day War or Third Arab–Israeli War. Israel bombed most of Egypt's airfields and then entered and occupied the Sinai Peninsula, all the way to the Suez Canal, for 15 years. Gamal Abdel Nasser, the leader of Egypt at the time, was aligning himself with the Soviet Union and had the Suez Canal closed earlier from October 1956 until March 1957 during the Suez Crisis, when he nationalized the Suez Canal from French and British investors. Oil through the Suez Canal accounted for 60% of Italy's, 39% of France's, and 25% of Britain's total oil consumption in 1966 before the canal was closed for 8 years. The canal opened again in June 1975 after the 1974 Suez Canal Clearance Operation of mines and debris.
