Politics|Peace Process
The Camp David Accords of 1978 produced the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country, with Egypt recognizing Israel and regaining Sinai in return.
In September 1978, U.S. President Jimmy Carter invited Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to Camp David, Maryland, for an intensive 13-day summit. The result was the Camp David Accords, a framework for peace that led to the first formal peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country.
The agreement had two primary components: first, a framework for peace between Israel and Egypt; and second, a more ambiguous plan for Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza. Under the peace treaty signed in March 1979, Israel agreed to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula, which it had occupied since 1967. Egypt, in turn, became the first Arab nation to recognize Israel.
The treaty marked a significant geopolitical shift. Egypt, long the military leader of the Arab world, was now aligned with the West. It was expelled from the Arab League temporarily and faced harsh criticism from other Arab states. Sadat would be assassinated in 1981, in part for signing the treaty.
For Israel, the treaty brought a cold but durable peace on its southern border and elevated Begin’s status internationally. The accords also earned both leaders the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Camp David Accords demonstrated that Arab-Israeli negotiations were possible with U.S. mediation and became a reference point for future peace initiatives—including Oslo and the Abraham Accords.
Israel State Archives, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, Begin Heritage Center
