Israel-Egyptian Peace Agreement Signed
In a ceremony at the White House, Egyptian President Anwar
el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin sign a historic peace
agreement, ending three decades of hostilities between Egypt and Israel and
establishing diplomatic and commercial ties.
Less than two years earlier, in an unprecedented move for an
Arab leader, Sadat traveled to Jerusalem, Israel, to seek a permanent peace
settlement with Egypt’s Jewish neighbor after decades of conflict. Sadat’s
visit, in which he met with Begin and spoke before Israel’s parliament, was met
with outrage in most of the Arab world. Despite criticism from Egypt’s regional
allies, Sadat continued to pursue peace with Begin, and in September 1978 the
two leaders met again in the United States, where they negotiated an agreement
with U.S. President Jimmy Carter at Camp David, Maryland. The Camp David
Accords, the first peace agreement between the state of Israel and one of its
Arab neighbors, laid the groundwork for diplomatic and commercial relations.
Seven months later, a formal peace treaty was signed.
For their achievement, Sadat and Begin were jointly awarded the
1978 Nobel Prize for Peace. Sadat’s peace efforts were not so highly acclaimed
in the Arab world–Egypt was suspended from the Arab League, and on October 6,
1981, Muslim extremists assassinated Sadat in Cairo. Nevertheless, the peace
process continued without Sadat, and in 1982 Egypt formally established
diplomatic relations with Israel.