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Doc of the Day: Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty
03/26/10
On March 26, 1979, the Middle East peace process took an important step forward when the leaders of Egypt and Israel signed a historic agreement. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in Washington, D.C., with U.S. President Jimmy Carter serving as a witness. Egypt thus became the first Arab country to officially recognize Israel and establish diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
The path to peace began in 1977, when Sadat made a historic visit to Israel. The two sides hammered out the terms of an agreement during intense, U.S.-brokered negotiations at Camp David, Maryland, in 1978. The Camp David Accords, which formed the basis of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, earned Sadat and Begin the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize.
The peace agreement officially ended the state of war that had existed between Egypt and Israel since 1948. The two neighboring countries exchanged ambassadors, eased cross-border travel restrictions, and established trade. Israel withdrew its troops from the Sinai Peninsula, while Egypt allowed Israeli ships to pass through Suez Canal. Although a majority of citizens in both countries favored the treaty, it proved controversial elsewhere in the Arab world and was especially condemned by Palestinians.