Bill Fitz-Patrick/Jimmy Carter Library Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter and Anwar Sadat in September 1978 after signing the Camp David Accords, which provided the framework for the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty of 1979.
Learn about key events in history and their connections to today.
On March 26, 1979, in a ceremony hosted by U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signed the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country.
The New York Times wrote, “At the signing ceremony, all three leaders offered prayers that the treaty would bring true peace to the Middle East and end the enmity that has erupted into war four times since Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948.”
Israel and Egypt had been in a state of war since the Arab-Israeli War, which occurred immediately after the founding of Israel. Following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the two nations began indirect peace negotiations through U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who engaged in “shuttle diplomacy” by meeting with each nation’s representatives.
President Carter took a different approach when he took office in 1977, by inviting Israeli and Egyptian leaders to multi-lateral talks. In 1978, President Carter, President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin met secretly at Camp David in Maryland, where they agreed to the framework for the peace treaty and for the establishment of self-rule for Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Both Sadat and Begin were awarded the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for the Camp David Accords.
The three men continued working toward a formal treaty. “The treaty was the result of months of grueling, often frustrating negotiations that finally were concluded early this morning,” wrote The Times. Under the treaty, the two nations agreed to end the state of war and to establish diplomatic relations. Egypt became the first Arab country to recognize Israel. Israel agreed to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula, which it had seized from Egypt in the Six-Day War of 1967, while Egypt agreed to grant Israeli ships access to the Suez Canal.
Despite the signing of the historic agreement, there “were signs that differences between Egypt and Israel were far from over,” The Times noted. Begin refused to mention Sadat by name in his speech and referred to Jerusalem “in a context that was likely to prove embarrassing to Mr. Sadat.” Meanwhile, Sadat intended to mention the “grave injustice” that had been inflicted on Palestinians, a remark that “would have been provocative to Mr. Begin,” according to The Times. It was reported that Sadat inadvertently skipped that section of his speech, however.
The Arab world reacted angrily to the peace treaty, as it had to the Camp David Accords, which it saw as a “betrayal of the Arab cause,” said The Times. As a result, the Arab League suspended Egypt. Sadat became unpopular among his fellow Arab leaders and his people; in 1981, he was assassinated by Islamic extremists.
Connect to Today:
In February 2012, The Times reported that Egypt is “threatening to review the 1979 peace treaty” if the United States cuts aid over Egypt’s crackdown on American nonprofit groups. Some analysts believe that Egypt would have to leave the treaty in place because it is “a linchpin of regional stability” and “ensures peaceful borders at a time when Egypt can ill afford the cost of a military buildup and its economy teeters on the brink of collapse.”
What are your thoughts on the extent to which Egypt and Israel have honored the treaty? In your opinion, how has the United States, as broker of the treaty, supported peace between the two countries? Given what you know about the region, what do you think the consequences would be for Egypt, Israel and the United States if Egypt did review the treaty?
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