Thursday, August 14, 2008

The Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty

The Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt in 1978 led to a negotiated peace between the two nations. Signed in Washington, DC on March 26, 1979, the first between Israel and any of its Arab neighbors. Israel had a consistency policy since its founding in 1948 that called for direct, one-to-one negotiations as a method of resolving disputes with the Arab countries, but until Sadat brought Egypt to the table, no Arab country had been willing to talk to Israel!
 
Sadat and Begin shared in 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for their historic agreements. However, the initiative was far from universally popular in other Arab countries or even Sadat's own country, Egypt! Other Arab nations, and especially the Palestinians, saw Egypt's agreement with Israel as a stab in the back, leaving them weaker and with less bargaining leverage with Israel. Without Egypt, the, "United Arab Front" had not credibility. Sadat became isolated in the Arab world which led to his assassination in 1981.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I can't see your pictures ... go back and add them properly.