Anwar Sadat’s Decision To Make Peace With Israel Essay, Research Paper

Throughout time the decisions made by an individual or a group, such as

President Anwar Sadat and his decision to make peace with Israel has

dramatically changed the course of history. Every leader in history has

made a decision that has affected the world, or just his nation in some way.

After many years of struggling to keep peace among the Jews and Arabs,

President Anwar Sadat, finally decided to make peace with Israel. Peace

between Israel and Egypt would mean great changes were going to take

place. This momentous decision would be a large step up for the two nations

and would lead to them better lives, in peace.

Before the Egyptian Israeli Peace Pact was signed in 1978, Palestine

and Israel were enemies with each other in every way possible. They were

nowhere near being on good terms with one another. One war constantly

followed another, and it was impossible for them to live in peace. Neither

side saw even a slight possibility of this happening. Since Arab nations

refused to accept the fact that Israel could be a Jewish state, all the

Arabs had on their minds was the destruction of the country. Anwar Sadat

was prepared to sacrifice one million soldiers in the destruction of Israel

(Bard, http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/73_War.html).

The Suez War(1956), which followed the Israeli War of

Independence, the British, French, and the US agreed not to supply the

Israeli or Arabs with any needed weapons. Since they could not get weapons

from those countries, Egypt made an arms deal with Czechoslovakia. Now,

with their weapons, Egypt was able to invade Israel constantly. Egyptian

President Nassar nationalized the Suez Canal, and did not allow Israel, or

the French and British to use it, since they were supplying Israel with

armaments. The three nations, Britain, France, and Israel attacked Egypt,

and immediately defeated the Egyptians. The French and British protected

and occupied the canal.

The next war fought was the Six Day War(1967), which was fought

between Israel and three other countries. In the south, Israel fought the

Egyptians. In the central region, they fought Jordan, and in the north, they

fought Syria. Israel managed to defeat all three countries without any

trouble, and gain significant territory that would serve as its buffers in

future years (Gilbert, pg. 67-68).

On October 6, 1973, the Jews celebrated their holiest day of the

Jewish year, Yom Kippur. This was the only war that the Israelis were not

prepared for. The Egyptians and Syrians planned this surprise attack on

Israel, knowing that they weren?t expecting the invasion. They didn?t think

that the Arabs would have the nerve to attack on the holiest day. Since it is

a fast day, that made it worse, since the soldiers were considerably weaker

on that day. Nine Arab states helped along with the Egyptian-Syrian war

effort. The Yom Kippur War ended as a tie. A tie didn?t look good for

Israel, since they had won all of the previous wars, however it looked better

for the Arabs.

In 1978, the Camp David Accords were signed between Israeli Prime

Minister, Menachem Begin, and Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat, in

Maryland at Camp David along with US President Jimmy Carter as a witness.

The Camp David Accords first began when President Sadat took a trip to

Jerusalem to discuss the topic of peace between Egypt and Israel with

Prime Minister Begin. This visit started talks between the two countries and

had them developing peace negotiations. In the midst of creating peace,

there was a period where nothing else was being done. Since there was a

deadlock, President Carter invited both Sadat and Begin to Camp David to

work out a permanent peace agreement. The Camp David Accords were

signed in September, 1978. In March 1979, the peace treaty, better known

as the Egyptian Israeli Peace Pact, was completely finished and was finally

signed.

The Egyptian Israeli Peace Pact was signed in 1979 in Washington.

The treaty has nine articles. The treaty has a military annex, an annex

dealing with the relation between the parties, agreed minutes interpreting

the main articles of the treaty, the withdrawal schedule, exchange of

ambassadors, security arrangements, and the agreement relating to the

autonomy talks. The point of the treaty was to, not only create peace

between Israel and Egypt, but also between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

The desired result of the treaty was to bring the war atmosphere to an end,

and to establish peace where everyone can live safely (RosenWasser, pg. 36).

The treaty asks that Israel withdraws from Arab lands, under the

circumstances that the Arab population accepts the existence of Israel.

Egypt and Israel were almost positive that the treaty would resolve all of

their problems relating to order.

People have come to believe that Sadat decided to make peace with

Israel because of a visit to Morocco before his visit to Israel (Segal,

http://www.virtual.co.il/news/jta/nov97/19-sada.html). During that

meeting, supposedly, the Foreign Prime Minister Moshe Dayan and a senior

Egyptian official had a discussion on Israel?s intentions of giving the Sinai

Peninsula back to Egypt, under the conditions that Egypt makes peace with

Israel. Sadat planned on taking the Sinai Peninsula back if the Israeli?s

continued refusing making peace with Egypt. The Israeli?s would not make

peace with Israel, therefore Sadat and his army ended up crossing the Suez

back, and forcing the Israeli army into the desert. This attack developed a

new momentum for peace in Egypt as well as in Israel. By making the first

step towards peace in Israel, Sadat risked a lot, including his nation?s

respect. Egypt?s minister of foreign affairs, Boutros-Ghali believes that

Sadat?s decision to make peace with Israel was ?one of the most important

historical events of this century?. Even though the rest of the world

thought that this was a great decision made, other Arab leaders did not

agree. Sadat was killed for his peace process attempts. You would think

that the person who made these attempts would be praised forever. This

shows you how much hate there actually was between the Arabs and Jews.

Sadat decided that the only way the Arab people and Israeli people could

survive was to find a way to live together. Sadat was the visionary among

the Arab people, however for being the visionary, he was killed by his own

people (Mansfield, pg. 194).

We know that Egypt was not very much thrilled with Sadat?s choice to

make peace with Israel. There was a great deal of tension between the

Arab countries because of the peace situation. Egypt was considered to be

betrayed by the Arab nations and today, Egypt is still not on good terms

with them. The hatred between Jews and Arabs goes all the way back to

Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem in 1872 BC. Sadat was assassinated by his own

people that opposed the signing of the treaty. However, this treaty meant

that Israel and Egypt no longer had to concentrate military forces on

fighting each other. They could now ?relax? in that area and concentrate on

other matters. Stability and peace was brought to many in the involved

nations.

Sadat?s decision to create peace with Israel is considered to be a

momentous decision. It was one of the most important decisions made in

history. Israel and Egypt were never on good terms. Sadat?s effort to make

peace was the first effort to make peace in the Middle East that both

nations actually agreed on. The Middle East would not be the same ever

again. Sadat?s willingness to get along with Israel was a complete surprise to

the world. Israel was absolutely astonished at his choice to do so. He made

great efforts to come through with peace agreements. Sadat was willing to

do anything to live in peace with Israel. Years before the Egyptian Israeli

Peace Treaty was signed, this wasn?t so. Sadat went from being willing to do

anything to bring down Israel to doing anything that would keep Israel on

good terms with Egypt. People were suspicious about Sadat?s different

actions or feelings towards Israel. Before Sadat traveled to Israel to make

his speech concerning peace, Israel and Egypt highly doubted being able to

live among each other without constantly attacking one another. Conflicts

between the two nations definitely would not have come to an end, if it

weren?t for Sadat?s brave and courageous effort.

Therefore, President Anwar Sadat was very confident to go into

Israel to establish peace. His decision was one of the greatest in time. Due

to his courage and efforts, the Middle East, today is still affected by this

momentous decision. The constant wars were finally put to an end, and now

the nations of the Middle East could live in peace, without any worries.

Bard, Mitchell.

Cozic, Charles P. Israel; Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,

1994.

Gilbert, Martin. ?Atlas of the Arab-Israeli Conflict.?

(pg. 67-68)

Kimche, David. The Last Option. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company,

1991.

Mansfield, Peter. A History of the Middle East. New York: Penguin Books,

1991.

Mendelsohn, Everett. A Compassionate Peace. A Future for Israel,

Palestine, and the Middle East. New York: Farrar, Strau & Giroux,

1989.

Rosenwasser, Penny. Voices From a ?Promised Land?. Connecticut: Curbstone

Press, 1992.

Schiff, Ze?ev and Ehud Ya?ari. Intifada. New York: Simon and Schuster,

1989.