American History

The Camp David Accords of 1978 was a ground-breaking event in the history of the world.  This accord helped bring some measure of peace in the troubled Middle East as the respective leaders of Egypt and Israel, President Anwar Sadat and Primie Minister Menachem Begin, took initial steps in dialogue which led to the Accords with American President Jimmy Carter acting as mediator.

    Prior to the Accords, Israel and Egypt, along with its allies in the Arab League, have been at war with Israel on four occasions.  The 1967 Six-Day War was an Israeli victory that proved costly for the Egyptians as they lost the Sinai Peninsula which they were not able to regain in the following Yom Kippur War despite the improved showing of the Egyptian forces against the Israelis.  It was during this war that Sadat assumed power following the death of Gamal Abdel Nasser.  It was also during the start of his administration that he expelled Soviet advisers from his country as well after being constantly courted by the American government as part of bringing peace to the volatile region (Quandt, 25).  The Americans felt that Sadat was a more amiable person to deal with than Nasser who was a rabid Pan-Arabic nationalist whose policies were anathema to Washingtons foreign policy.

    Peace initiatives have been considered by all parties concerned.  On the part of the Americans, President Carter wanted to get the Middle East peace initiative started after getting stalled during the election campaign. Carter, an avowed pacifist owing to his deep religiosity, wanted to bring peace to the Middle East partly for sentimental reasons.  And his initiatives are consistent to his religious beliefs of beating swords into ploughshares. But several complications have stalled American efforts in getting the peace initiatives going because of the repercussions at the world state.  Because of the perceived foot-dragging of the Americans, Sadat took the initiative by announcing his willingness to visit Israel which he did 10 days later, taking a very bold but risky step in mending the proverbial fences with its enemy.  On the part of the Israelis, they too were tired of fighting and despite their successes and the spoils of war they have reaped, they were paying a heavy price for being occupiers and the leaders then sought the help of its Arab neighbors in dealing with the Palestinian problem which no Arab nation, not even the moderate ones would entertain as they were all united in their goal of destroying the Jewish nation and to entertain Israel would be tantamount to being branded a traitor by their Arab brothers.  When Sadat said he was coming over, the Israelis did not hesitate to receive him, thereby showing that they are not belligerent to Arab nations at all.  Any hope they had in getting friendly with Egypt was dashed after Sadats speech to the Knesset (Parliament) which reflected no change in Egypts stand on the current issues they were facing (Bard, 232).  One of the issues Israel was willing to deal with the Egyptians was the return of the Sinai Peninsula in exchange for recognizing Israeli settlements there.

  This had led to a stand off between the two nations which prompted Carter to take the initiative and invite the two leaders to his presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland to resume the talks though behind closed doors.  Because of the tense antipathy between the Begin and Sadat, Carter had to approach them individually, willingly acting as a go-between as the two leaders would not speak to one another (Hahn, 62).  This would go on until the 12th day when Carter finally got the two leaders to agree on something.  Israel agreed to relinquish the Sinai to Egypt with the United States offering to help rebuild its military installations in the Negev. In addition, Israel was to freeze settlements in the region.  On the part of Egypt, Sadat was willing to act as representative to the Palestinians in consultations with the Israelis on a condition that Israel recognizes the Palestinians which they were reluctant to do since they were considered terrorists.  Sadat and Begin also agreed to send ambassadors to each other in 9 months after the agreement (Bard, 238).  On the 17th of September, all three leaders signed the agreement which would be the Camp David Accords.  A year later, a formal peace treaty between Israel and Egypt was signed in Washington.

    The Accords and the Treaty were hailed as a successful breakthrough in bringing about peace in the region though not that big yet.  It was a strategic victory in the sense that Egypt was taken out of the equation as far as Israels enemies were concerned.  The United States, Egypts new ally would see to that and at the same time, resume providing economic and technical aid to the country following Sadats expulsion of the Soviets.  While Sadat was hailed as a hero in the world for his initiatives, he was reviled and branded a traitor by extremists in the region and he eventually paid for it with his life in 1981 when he was assassinated (Quandt, 64).  Nonetheless, the Accords and Treaty was only the beginning and in 1995, Israel and Palestine finally brokered a peace treaty in the White House Lawn as Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat finally made peace with President Bill Clinton presiding.  Like Sadat, Rabin would also pay the price for making peace with his life.  Despite the continuing threats, efforts have been made to bring peace in the region, especially by those living there.