The main shortcomings of this U.N commission were that the Israelis disapprove of the observers, accusing them of not protecting the Israeli people and not thwarting any brutal incidents. In addition, the Israelis claimed that the UNTSO hindered progress towards a stable Israeli settlement . .
On the other hand, the UNTSO did provide a channel that allowed the Israelis and the Palestinians to speak to one another and aided to reach local ceasefires. Moreover, the UNTSO further increased Canada's international sway because it was Canada that took charge of the peacekeeping mission and although it did not succeed, Canada was able to produce some beneficial results out of the unfavorable situation.
Another United Nations operation that increased Canada's international influence was the Suez Crisis. Prior to July 1956, the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, was co-owned by Great Britain and France until the Egyptian President Abdual Nasser nationalized the canal. Both Britain and France immediately began to plan a cooperative military strike, looking for assistance from Israel. "On October 29, the Israelis sent their armour into the Sinai Desert, an action that was greeted.by a joint British ultimatum to Cairo and Jerusalem for "the early cessation of hostilities to safeguard the free passage of the Canal"" . Israel stopped its armoured vehicles sixteen kilometers west of the Suez Canal, yet Egypt, who was ordered to immobilize sixteen kilometers east of the Suez Canal, refused to comply with the British. As a result of this, the British and the French began air and sea operations. .
The U.N Security Council called for Israel to withdraw and for both Britain and France to cease they"re attacks. In spite of this, the British and the French vetoed this demand, but the Security Council imposed the Unity for Peace resolution of 1950 to supersede the vetoes. On November 1, 1956, the Canadian foreign minister Lester Pearson presented the idea for "a U.
