The first steps to Camp David and the treaty would be the so-called Sinai I and II treaties, both the work of Henry Kissinger in an effort to reduce Soviet influence in the Middle East by bringing Egypt into closer US orbit. After Egypt and the rest of the Arab states were defeated in the Six Day War of 1967, it became important to Sadat to reclaim the Sinai Peninsula lost in the conflict. He tried war, attacking Israel in the Sinai in 1973, and then peace, boldly visiting Israel in 1977 and delivering a speech to the Knesset.
Begin, a long time hardliner, formed the Likud Party in 1973 as a "consolidation" of right wing parties in Israel. He led them to power in a landslide in May of 1977. Many perceived Begin as having the upper hand at Camp David. He had little to lose if nothing were accomplished. Sadat, on the other hand, needed to re-secure the Sinai for economic and historic reasons.
Carter ably pushed and prodded the two to agreement at Camp David. (Some thought the Nobel should have gone to him.) The treaty signed in March of '79 reflected the two main frameworks of the Accords. The first focused on Israel and Egypt, calling for a phased withdrawal of Israel from the Sinai and the normalization of relations between the two countries. The second, larger in scope, was to provide for a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace settlement based on UN Resolution 242. Adopted by the UN Security Council in the aftermath of the The Six Day War, 242 is essentially a land for peace swap with Israel relinquishing the territories won in that conflict.
The Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty was the first peace agreement between Israel and any of its neighbors. Despite events in the intervening years, it still holds today, although recent events in Egypt may change that. It has also served as a template for future accords, the best example of which was Clinton's efforts at Camp David in 2000.
But it has also had unintended, and perhaps not too unintended consequences. Prior to 1979, Egypt was largely seen as the leader of the Arab world, especially as concerned Israel. After the treaty was signed and Egypt essentially gave up that role, the region has gone through upheaval that continues to this day. Iran was about to become a theocracy and Saddam Hussein was months away from power in Iraq. The moderation that Egypt had historically supplied to the area was no longer a factor. There is some thought that Begin accepted the terms of Camp David so Israel could claim compliance with UN 242 and the reticence of Israel in terms of giving up any more land bears that out. Indeed, settlements in those territories have continued to grow.
A major issue is that the two frameworks were not linked, the success of one was independent of the other. Sadat in particular was vilified by many in the region as having abandoned the Palestinians. When he signed the treaty, he also signed his death warrant. He was assassinated in October of 1981 by Egyptian Islamic Jihad. The fatwa was issued by the "blind sheik" Omar Abdel-Rahman and one of the leaders was Ayman al-Zawahiri, who became bin Laden's number two man.
This was an historic peace agreement. The peace between Egypt and Israel has lasted, and the legacy of this treaty, good and bad, lives on.
No comments:
Post a Comment