NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Camp David Accords (1978)

The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David. The two agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States President Jimmy Carter. Sadat also said he wanted them to be called the Carter Accords. This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... The White House Rose Garden is a garden in the West Wing area of the White House. ... Menachem Wolfovitch Begin (August 16, 1913 â€“ March 9, 1992) ( name in Hebrew: (helpÂ· info) ) became the 6th Prime Minister of Israel in May 1977. ... For the submarine, see USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Menachem Wolfovitch Begin (August 16, 1913 â€“ March 9, 1992) ( name in Hebrew: (helpÂ· info) ) became the 6th Prime Minister of Israel in May 1977. ... September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Main Lodge at Camp David during Nixon administration, February 9, 1971. ... The southern side of the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States of America. ... For the submarine, see USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23). ...

Background

Upon assuming office on January 20, 1977, President Carter moved to rejuvenate the Middle Eastern peace process that had stalled throughout the 1976 presidential campaign in the United States. Following the advice of a Brookings Institution report, Carter opted to replace the incremental, bilateral peace talks which had characterized Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy following the 1973 Yom Kippur War with a comprehensive, multilateral approach. This new approach called for the reconvening of the 1973 Geneva Conference, this time with a Palestinian delegation, in hopes of negotiating a final settlement. January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... Order: 39th President Term of Office: January 20, 1977–January 20, 1981 Preceded by: Gerald Ford Succeeded by: Ronald Reagan Date of birth: October 1, 1924 Place of birth: Plains, Georgia Date of death: Place of death: First Lady: Rosalynn Carter Political party: Democratic Vice President: Walter Mondale James Earl... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1976 calendar). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards and appeal to a wider international audience, this article may require cleanup. ... The Brookings Institution is one of the oldest and best known think tanks in the United States. ... Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (born May 27, 1923) is a German-born American diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner who played an important part in foreign affairs through the positions he held in several Republican administrations between 1969 and 1977. ... In diplomacy and international relations, shuttle diplomacy is the use of a third party to serve as an intermediary or mediator between two parties who do not talk directly. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1973 calendar). ... Combatants Israel Egypt, Syria, (Jordan, Iraq) Commanders Moshe Dayan, David Elazar, Ariel Sharon, Shmuel Gonen, Benjamin Peled Saad El Shazly, Ahmad Ismail Ali Strength 415,000 troops; 1,500 tanks, 3,000 armored carriers; 945 artillery units 100 mm and up; 561 airplanes, 84 helicopters; 38 warships. ... Several international or multinational conferences have been called the Geneva Conference, because they were held in the city of Geneva, Switzerland. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ...

Carter also wasted no time in visiting the heads-of-state on whom he would have to rely to make any peace agreement feasible. By the end of his first year in office, he had already met with Anwar Sadat of Egypt, King Hussein of Jordan, Hafez al-Assad of Syria, and Yitzhak Rabin of Israel. Carter's and Vance's exploratory meetings gave him a basic plan for reinvigorating the peace process based on the Geneva Conference and Israeli withdrawal on all fronts, including the West Bank. The political situation in Israel underwent a dramatic upheaval with a devastating electoral loss of the long-ruling Israeli Labour Party to Menachem Begin's Likud Party in May of 1977. While Begin officially favored the reconvention of the conference, perhaps even more than Rabin, and even accepted the Palestinian presence, Israel and eventually also Sadat strongly preferred bilateral talks. Even earlier, Begin had not been opposed to returning the Sinai, but a major future obstacle was his firm refusal to consider relinquishing control over the West Bank. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Hussein bin Talal (Arabic: حسين بن طلال) (November 14, 1935 - February 7, 1999) was the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 1952 to 1999. ... Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad (Arabic: ) (October 6, 1930 - June 10, 2000) was the president of Syria from 1971 to 2000. ... â–¶ (helpÂ· info) (or Yitschak Rabin) (or Yitzchak Rabin) (×™×¦×—×§ ×¨×‘×™×Ÿ in Hebrew), (March 1, 1922 â€“ November 4, 1995) was an Israeli politician and general. ... Cyrus Vance Cyrus Roberts Vance (March 27, 1917 â€“ January 12, 2002) was the United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980. ... Labour (העבודה HaAvoda) is an Israeli political party. ... Menachem Wolfovitch Begin (August 16, 1913 â€“ March 9, 1992) ( name in Hebrew: (helpÂ· info) ) became the 6th Prime Minister of Israel in May 1977. ... Likud party logo Likud or ליכוד literally means consolidation. ... Sinai Peninsula, Gulf of Suez (west), Gulf of Aqaba (east) from Space Shuttle STS-40 For other uses of the word Sinai, please see: Sinai (disambiguation). ...

The Sadat Peace Initiative

President Anwar Sadat came to feel that the Geneva track peace process was more show than substance, and was not progressing, partly due to disagreements with Syria. He also lacked confidence in American will to pressure Israel after a meeting with Carter. His frustration boiled over, and after meetings with Israelis, secret even to the Americans, in November 1977 he became the first Arab leader to visit Israel, thereby implicitly recognizing Israel. The gesture stemmed from an eagerness to enlist the help of the United States in improving the ailing Egyptian economy, a belief that Egypt should begin to focus more on its own interests than on the interests of the collective Arab world, and a hope that an agreement with Israel would catalyze similar agreements between Israel and her other Arab neighbors and help solve the Palestinian problem. Prime Minister Begin's response to Sadat's initiative, though not what Sadat or Carter had hoped, 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. In addition, the commencement of direct negotiations between leaders – summit diplomacy – would isolate Egypt from her Arab neighbors, a long-standing goal of Israel. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Arabs (Arabic: Ø¹Ø±Ø¨ ) are a large and heterogeneous ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia. ... The Arabs (Arabic: Ø¹Ø±Ø¨ ) are a large and heterogeneous ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia. ...

The talks

Accompanied by their capable negotiating teams and with their respective interests in mind, both leaders converged on Camp David for thirteen days of tense and dramatic negotiations from September 5-17, 1978. By all accounts, Carter's relentless drive to achieve peace and his reluctance to allow the two men to leave without reaching an agreement are what played the decisive role in the success of the talks. Numerous times both the Egyptian and Israeli leaders wanted to scrap negotiations, only to be lured back into the process by personal appeals from Carter. Begin and Sadat had such mutual antipathy toward one another that they only seldom had direct contact; thus Carter had to conduct his own microcosmic form of shuttle diplomacy by holding one-on-one meetings with either Sadat or Begin in one cabin, then returning to the cabin of the third party to relay the substance of his discussions. President Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and Cyrus Vance at Camp David in 1977 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... President Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and Cyrus Vance at Camp David in 1977 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Zbigniew Brzezinski Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski (born March 28, 1928, Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish-American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman. ... Cyrus Vance Cyrus Roberts Vance (March 27, 1917 â€“ January 12, 2002) was the United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980. ...

A particularly difficult situation arose on day ten of the talks. The issues of Israeli settlement withdrawal from the Sinai and the status of the West Bank created what seemed to be an impasse. Begin and Sadat were “literally not on speaking terms,” and “claustrophobia was setting in." In response, Carter had the choice of trying to salvage the agreement by conceding the issue of the West Bank to Begin, while advocating Sadat’s less controversial position on the removal of all settlements from the Sinai Peninsula. Or he could have refused to continue the talks, reported the reasons for their failure, and allowed Begin to bear the brunt of the blame. Carter chose to continue and for three more days negotiated, arm-twisted, assured, and petitioned until at last an agreement was possible. The result was the Camp David Accords. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin engages U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski in a game of chess at Camp David File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin engages U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski in a game of chess at Camp David File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Listen to this article Â· (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2006-03-08, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ...

Terms of the agreements

There were two 1978 Camp David agreements A Framework for Peace in the Middle East and A Framework for the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel, the second leading towards the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty signed in March, 1979. The agreements and the peace treaty were both accompanied by "side-letters" of understanding between Egypt and the US and Israel and the US.[1] The Israel-Egypt peace treaty (Arabic: Ù…Ø¹Ø§Ù‡Ø¯Ø© Ø§Ù„Ø³Ù„Ø§Ù… Ø§Ù„Ù…ØµØ±ÙŠØ© Ø§Ù„Ø¥Ø³Ø±Ø§Ø¦ÙŠÙ„ÙŠØ©; transliterated: Muahadat as-Salam al-Masriyah al-Israyliyah) (Hebrew: ×”×¡×›× ×©×œ×•× ×™×©×¨××œ-×ž×¦×¨×™×; transliterated: Heskem Shalom Yisrael-Mizraim) was signed in Washington, DC, United States, on March 26, 1979, following the Camp David Accords (1978). ...

The first agreement had three parts. The first part was a framework for negotiations to establish an autonomous self-governing authority in the West Bank and the Gaza strip and to fully implement SC 242. It was less clear than the agreements concerning the Sinai, and was later interpreted differently by Israel, Egypt, and the US. Autonomy is the condition of something that does not depend on anything else. ... United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 (S/RES/242) was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on November 22, 1967 in the aftermath of the Six Day War. ...

The second part dealt with Egyptian-Israeli relations, the real content being in the second agreement. The third part "Associated Principles" declared principles that should apply to relations between Israel and all of its Arab neighbors.

The second agreement outlined a basis for the peace treaty 6 months later, in particular deciding the future of the Sinai peninsula. Israel agreed to withdraw its armed forces from the Sinai and restore it to Egypt in return for normal diplomatic relations with Egypt, guarantees of freedom of passage through the Suez Canal and other nearby waterways (such as the Straits of Tiran), and a restriction on the forces Egypt could place on the Sinai peninsula, especially within 20-40km from Israel. Israel also agreed to limit its forces a smaller distance (3 km) from the Egyptian border, and to guarantee free passage between Egypt and Jordan. Sinai Peninsula, Gulf of Suez (west), Gulf of Aqaba (east) from Space Shuttle STS-40 For other uses of the word Sinai, please see: Sinai (disambiguation). ... The Straits of Tiran The Straits of Tiran are the narrow sea passages, about 3 miles wide, formed by the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas which separates the Gulf of Aqaba from the Red Sea. ...

The agreement also resulted in the United States committing to several billion dollars worth of annual subsidies to the governments of both Israel and Egypt, subsidies which continue to this day.

Consequences

The time that has elapsed since the Camp David Accords have left no doubt as to their enormous ramifications on Middle Eastern politics. Most notably, the perception of Egypt within the Arab world changed. With the most powerful of the Arab militaries and a history of leadership in Arab world under Nasser, Egypt had more leverage than any of the other Arab states to advance Arab interests. Sadat's alacrity at concluding a peace treaty without demanding greater concessions for Israeli recognition of the Palestinians' right to self-determination incited enough hatred in the Arab world to bring about Sadat's assassination in 1981. Egypt was also suspended from the Arab League from 1979 until 1989. Gamal Abdel Nasser (Arabic: جمال عبد الناصر) Gamal Abdel Nasser (January 15, 1918 - September 28, 1970) was the second President of Egypt after Muhammad Naguib and is considered one of the most important Arab leaders in history. ... Self-determination is a principle in international law that a people ought to be able to determine their own governmental forms and structure free from outside influence. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Flag of the League of Arab States The Arab League or League of Arab States (Arabic: Ø¬Ø§Ù…Ø¹Ø© Ø§Ù„Ø¯ÙˆÙ„ Ø§Ù„Ø¹Ø±Ø¨ÙŠØ©), is an organization of Arab states (compare Arab world). ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Also, the Camp David Accords prompted the disintegration of a united Arab front in opposition to Israel. Egypt's realignment created a power vacuum that Saddam Hussein of Iraq, at one time only a secondary consideration, hoped to fill. His ambitions became visible in 1980 when he ordered the invasion of neighboring Iran (Iran-Iraq War), starting a chain of events that would later lead to an invasion of Kuwait in 1990 (followed by the Gulf War), then ultimately the toppling of his own regime in 2003. Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, (Arabic ), born April 28, 1937 , was the President of Iraq from 1979 until he was captured by the military of the United States on December 13th, 2003, following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ... Combatants Iran Iraq Casualties Est. ... Combatants U.S.-led coalition Iraq Commanders Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. ... Combatants Coalition Forces (United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Poland) Iraq Commanders Tommy Franks Saddam Hussein Strength 263,000 375,000 The 2003 Invasion of Iraq began on March 20 and consisted mainly of United States and United Kingdom forces. ...

Lastly, the biggest consequence of all may be in the psychology of the participants of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The success of Begin, Sadat, and Carter at Camp David demonstrated to other Arab states and entities that negotiations with Israel were possible — that progress results only from sustained efforts at communication and cooperation. Despite the disappointing conclusion of the 1993 Oslo Accords between the PLO and Israel, and even though the 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace has not fully normalized relations with Israel, both of these significant developments had little chance of occurring without the precedent set by Camp David. The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles (DOP), were finalized in Oslo, Norway on August 20, 1993, and subsequently officially signed at a public ceremony in Washington D.C. on September 13, 1993, with Mahmoud Abbas signing for the... The Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace, or Israel-Jordan peace treaty is a peace treaty signed between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1994. ...

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