🏜️ Land and pride
Sadat wanted all of Sinai back. The 1973 war had restored Egyptian pride, which gave him strength to talk to Israel. But Israel still held much of the peninsula, and he doubted that small steps would ever return it all.
Diplomacy, Peace Then Wider War, 1973-83 » The Road to Camp David: Sadat, Begin and Carter
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section B, Breadth study B7, Key topic 4
- Why Sadat wanted peace with Israel, and why he went to Jerusalem in 1977
- What Begin wanted from a deal with Egypt
- How Carter pushed the sides to the Camp David summit in 1978
- How to answer a "similar or different" question
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Unlock This CourseA peace that stalled
By 1975 the step-by-step deals had left Israel holding most of Sinai, and the hardest problems untouched. Egypt, led by President Anwar Sadat, had regained some land but not enough. Israel still held the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Two sides who had fought four wars needed something bolder, and in 1977 three leaders were in place who would try it: Sadat in Egypt, Menachem Begin in Israel and Jimmy Carter in the USA.
Key terms:
- Summit: a meeting between the top leaders of countries, often held in private.
- Mediator: a third party who helps two enemies reach an agreement.
- Knesset: the parliament of Israel.
- Comprehensive settlement: a peace deal meant to solve all the main disputes at once, not just one at a time.
Sadat's motives
💰 A struggling economy
Egypt was poor and in debt, and a large share of its money went on the army. In January 1977 riots broke out in Egyptian cities after the government cut food subsidies. Sadat needed peace so that he could spend on people, and he needed American money.
Sadat had also turned away from the USSR. He had sent Soviet advisers home in 1972 and cancelled the friendship treaty with Moscow in 1976. He now believed that only the USA could persuade Israel to leave Sinai, so he wanted to win American support.
Begin's aims
In May 1977 Israel's voters put Begin's Likud party in power. It was the first time that Israel's government was not led by the Labour party. Begin was a hard-liner. He wanted to keep the West Bank, which he called by its Biblical names of Judea and Samaria, and his government built more Jewish settlements there.
Yet Begin saw a chance in Egypt. Egypt was the strongest Arab state, and without it no Arab army could fight a big war against Israel. A peace with Egypt would make Israel safer on its southern border. Sinai was not part of the land Begin saw as Israel's historic homeland, so he was ready to give it back in return for peace. His real aim was to keep the West Bank, not lose it.
Carter's plan, and why it failed
Carter became US president in January 1977. He wanted a comprehensive settlement at a conference in Geneva, with the USA and the USSR in charge together. On 1 October 1977 the two superpowers issued a joint statement calling for it. This angered Israel, which did not want the Soviet Union involved, and the Arab states could not agree who would attend. The Geneva idea went nowhere. Carter's hopes were kept alive by what Sadat did next.
Sadat goes to Jerusalem, 1977
On 9 November 1977 Sadat told Egypt's parliament that he was ready to go to Israel. Begin invited him. On 19 November Sadat landed in Israel, and the next day he spoke to the Knesset in Jerusalem. He was the first Arab leader to visit Israel. He asked for peace, but also said Israel must give up the land taken in 1967 and respect Palestinian rights.
It was a gamble. Most Arab leaders were furious. Syria and the PLO condemned him for dealing with Israel on his own. But it broke the long silence between the two countries. Many Israelis now saw that an Arab leader would make peace.
The follow-up talks soon bogged down. Begin met Sadat at Ismailia in Egypt in December 1977. He offered self-rule to Palestinians but kept Israeli control of security, and Sadat wanted more. By mid-1978 the talks were close to collapse.
Carter and the Camp David summit, September 1978
Carter invited both men to Camp David, the presidential retreat in the mountains of Maryland. They met there from 5 to 17 September 1978. Carter gave nearly all his time to the summit. Sadat and Begin disliked each other, so Carter kept them apart in separate cabins and carried drafts between them for days. At one point Sadat packed to leave and Carter had to persuade him to stay. The summit ended in agreement, and its terms are the subject of the next lesson.
The three roles were different but linked. Sadat took the risk that started the process. Begin gave up Sinai to protect Israel and keep the West Bank. Carter offered American friendship and aid to both, and gave up his own time to bring them together.
Change and continuity
Much changed. For the first time an Arab leader talked directly with an Israeli leader, and the aim was no longer a limited deal on army positions but a full peace. Yet the Palestinian question remained unsolved, the other Arab states rejected Sadat's path, and the USA stayed at the centre of the peacemaking, as it had under Kissinger.
Common mistakes
- Saying that Sadat and Begin first met at Camp David. They had met in Jerusalem and Ismailia in 1977.
- Confusing the three leaders. Sadat was Egypt's president, Begin Israel's prime minister and Carter the US president.
- Writing about the terms of Camp David when asked for the reasons for it. Keep motives and terms separate.
Exam-style question
Explain TWO ways in which the peacemaking of 1977-78 was different from Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy of 1973-75. [6 marks]
Model answer
One difference was who did the talking. Between 1973 and 1975, Kissinger flew between Jerusalem, Cairo and Damascus, carrying messages while the leaders stayed apart. In 1977, however, Sadat flew to Jerusalem and spoke to the Knesset, and he and Begin then met directly at Ismailia in December 1977, so the sides spoke to each other instead of only through a go-between.
A second difference was the aim. In 1974-75 the US deals were limited agreements, such as the Sinai agreement of September 1975 that pulled armies back from the Mitla and Gidi passes. At Camp David in 1978, by contrast, Carter, Sadat and Begin set out to reach a full peace between Egypt and Israel, not just to separate armies.
This is a top answer because it gives two clear differences, and each one includes a specific fact about both periods.
Exam tip
In a "different from" question, write each way as a direct comparison using words like "whereas" or "by contrast", with one precise fact for each period.