Back to the video list: Israeli History

 

The Camp David Accords were a significant event for the Middle East Peace Process. For the first time an Arab state entered direct negotiations with Israel. Furthermore, a main result was the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

 

Video

 

 

Overview

  • Date: 17 Sep 1978
  • Location: Camp David, USA
  • Event: Signing of two treaties
    • Framework for Peace in the Middle East
    • Framework for the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel

 

Parties & Persons Involved

  • Israel
    • Menachem Begin (1913 – 1992), Israeli prime minister
  • Egypt
    • Anwar El Sadat (1918 – 1981), Egyptian president
  • United States of America
    • Jimmy Carter (1924 – ), U.S. President

 

Background

  • Palestinian question:
    • Palestinians lost their home
    • Areas of Palestinian settlements in the West Bank & the Gaza Strip are controlled by Israel
    • Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israel
  • Arab-Israeli Conflict
    • Still Arab countries are formally in a state of war with Israel
    • Arab states deny Israel the right to exist
    • Israel controls territories which were part of Arab countries, esp. the former Egyptian Sinai

 

History

Before the Camp David Accords

  • 1947/48: After the Israeli War of Independence & the founding of the State of Israel the Middle East Conflict unfolds
  • 04 – 10 Jun 1967: Israel gains control over the Golan Heights, West Bank & Sinai during the Six Day War
  • 06 – 25 Oct 1973: Israel prevails in the Yom Kippur War by repulsing an Egyptian-Syrian attack
  • 1977: Diplomatic initiatives of president Carter to find a multinational solution
  • 1977: (covert) bilateral negotiations between Israel & Egypt
  • 09 Nov 1977: Sadat announces in front of the Egyptian parliament that he would even go to Jerusalem to achieve peace in the Middles East
  • Israeli government invites Sadat to speak in the Knesset
  • 20 Nov 1977: Sadat visits Jerusalem & holds a speech in the Knesset - Sadat emphasises on the UN resolutions 242 & 238:
    • Withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territories occupied in 1967
    • Recognition of the right to exist for all of the states in the Middle East

 

The Camp David Accords

  • 06 – 08 Aug 1978: Begin & Sadat (& U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance) agree on 05 Sep as the date for the Camp David meeting
  • 05 – 17 Sep 1978: President Carter mediates negotiations between Begin & Sadat
  • 17 Sep 1978: Signing of the Camp David Accords 
    • Framework for Peace in the Middle East
      • Autonomy for Palestinian territories
      • Security for Israel
    • Framework for the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel
      • “Land for peace“ regarding the Sinai

 

After the Camp David Accords

  • 1978: Nobel Peace Prize for Begin & Sadat
  • 26 Mar 1979: Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty
  • Until 1982: Withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Sinai
  • 1979 – 1989: Arab League suspends Egypt
  • 06 Oct 1981: Assassination of Sadat by Jihadists

 

Consequences & Impact

  • First Arab-Israeli Peace
  • Egypt is temporarily isolated within the Arab world
  • The pan-Arab movement is weakened
  • Affront against Jordan because she was excluded from the negotiations about the West Bank
  • Precedence (for Arab states & organisations) that negotiations can contribute to the solution of the Middle East Conflict
    • Oslo Peace Process (1993)
    • Israeli-Jordan Peace Treaty (1994)