Anwar Sadat

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.