Six months after the Camp David Accords, on March 26 1979, the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt was signed in Washington, D.C.. The Egypt–Israel treaty was signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and witnessed by United States President Jimmy Carter.
But the peace treaty almost never happened. U.S. President Jimmy Carter tried to scuttle the talks at their origin, when Sadat said he would visit Jerusalem.
The Camp David Accords were the result of 14 months of diplomatic efforts by Egypt, Israel, and the United States that began after Jimmy Carter became President. Efforts initially focused on a comprehensive resolution of disputes between Israel and the Arab countries, gradually evolved into a search for a bilateral agreement between Israel and Egypt
Carter was pushing a "Geneva Peace Process" which included all of the Arab Nations, but Sadat felt that the process was all "show" and couldn't see a way to form a united negotiating bloc with his Arab (mainly Syria, Libya, and Iraq) allies.
So Sadat took the initiative and on November 9, 1977, he delivered a speech in Egypt that stunned the world. He stated that he would travel anywhere, "even Jerusalem," to discuss peace.
That speech led Begin government to declare that, if Israel thought that Sadat would accept an invitation, Israel would invite him. Actually Walter Cronkite negotiated the entire thing.
Prime Minister Begin's response to Sadat's initiative, demonstrated a willingness to engage the Egyptian leader. Like Sadat, Begin also saw many reasons why bilateral talks would be in his country's best interests. It would afford Israel the opportunity to negotiate only with Egypt instead of with a larger Arab delegation that might try to use its size to make unwelcome or unacceptable demands. Thus the two began bilateral talks.
According to Yossi Alpher, a former senior adviser to Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University:
So you see Carter did his very best to screw up what became his only foreign policy success (unless you want to count the release of the hostages from the Iranian embassy, but again since he helped to sire the radical Islamist regime in Iran their capture was created by Carter).
According to Yossi Alpher, a former senior adviser to Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University:
Carter wanted his Geneva talks. He didn't care that the peace process already begun by Sadat and Begin might lead to peace, Carter wanted his plan or nothing. Thankfully Carter couldn't stop the approaching peace train. Within days Israeli journalists were allowed into Cairo, breaking a symbolic barrier, and from there the peace process quickly gained momentum.
So you see Carter did his very best to screw up what became his only foreign policy success (unless you want to count the release of the hostages from the Iranian embassy, but again since he helped to sire the radical Islamist regime in Iran their capture was created by Carter).
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