Short-Term Impact
Following the Camp David Accords, "more diplomacy [by Begin and Sadat], focused largely on selling the agreement to domestic constituencies, [that] finally culminated in the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty on March 26, 1979."
The treaty led to normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Israeli withdrawal from Sinai Peninsula, and an end to the state of war between the two nations since 1948. Reactions to the Accords and the Treaty were mixed; while Israelis were "ecstatic," Arab nations felt betrayed and responded by increasing "Sadat's isolation in the Arab world." |
|
"The Knesset's reaction to the Camp David Accords was a typical Israeli response to such matters: a fierce debate. But the bottom line is that when the moment came to vote for or against the Accords, the vast majority of Knesset members raised their hands in favour, including for the removal of Jewish settlements. We should remember that at Camp David the prime minister flatly refused to agree to remove the Sinai settlements and it was decided there to leave the matter for the Knesset to decide. And now it voted for the removal of the villages which was a most important precedent."
- Ahron Bregman, on Israel's reaction to the Accords
CLICK TO READ THE EXCHANGE OF LETTERS BETWEEN CARTER AND BEGIN ON MARCH 26, 1979
While Sadat and Begin won the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for the Camp David Accords, Sadat paid a heavy political price. The Camp David Accords were widely unpopular with Egyptians and the Arab world, as it weakened a unified Arab opposition against Israel. Egypt was suspended from the Arab League from 1979 to 1989.
Tragically, Sadat was assassinated on October 6, 1981, in Cairo during a military parade, by Islamic nationalists and jihadists unhappy with the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.
Tragically, Sadat was assassinated on October 6, 1981, in Cairo during a military parade, by Islamic nationalists and jihadists unhappy with the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.
"Death of a Pharaoh - Anwar al Sadat and the Holy Warriors"
|
The Accords came at a political cost for Begin as well. While the success of the Accords strengthened Israel by removing the threat of Egypt, the Accords "shifted balance of power...[and] allowed Israel to [recklessly] attack Lebanon in 1982." During the invasion, Israeli forces allowed Lebanese Christian militia to massacre hundreds of Palestinians at Sabra and Shatila "while Israelis watched, literally stood there and watched it happen." The massacres and Israel's failures "destroyed Begin's credibility and destroyed Begin's premiership." Begin's "greatest triumph...became the greatest seeds of his downfall."
|
Excerpt from Interview with Mark LeVine "The empirical fact is that the overriding objective has been to maintain Jewish-Israeli control over as much of the West Bank as possible. So when you look at all these events, since Camp David in 1978, the response to the Intifada, ongoing settlements, invasion of Lebanon (1982), the Madrid process in 1991, and then the Oslo process, if you look at them from the standpoint of the stated goals of each of them, and how the reality always differed, you’d think, well these guys were never able to succeed in anything that they were setting out to do. If you look at them from this standpoint...then it all makes sense." |