Anwar al-Sadat (L) shakes hands with Menachem Begin in the presence of US President Jimmy Carter. AFP
Anwar al-Sadat (L) shakes hands with Menachem Begin in the presence of US President Jimmy Carter. AFP

1978 - The Camp David Accords: A flawed path to peace

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Updated 19 April 2025
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1978 - The Camp David Accords: A flawed path to peace

1978 - The Camp David Accords: A flawed path to peace
  • While the accords earned Sadat and Begin the Nobel Prize, they did little to secure lasting peace in the Middle East

CHICAGO: When Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat visited Jerusalem hoping to prevent future wars and resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict through negotiations, he did so believing a comprehensive peace would not only include Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, but most importantly an Israeli agreement to withdraw from the occupied territories and allow for a the establishment of a Palestinian state. 

During his lengthy speech to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, Sadat said: “I have not come here for a separate agreement between Egypt and Israel … Even if peace between all the confrontation states and Israel were achieved, in the absence of a just solution to the Palestinian problem, never will there be that durable and just peace upon which the entire world insists today.” 

Sadat did not live to see how right he was about how Israel’s refusal to withdraw from the occupied territories would fuel a surge in extremism, create more violence, disrupt his own nation and make regional peace impossible. 

Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s sole purpose was to remove the military threat posed by Egypt, divide the Arab “confrontation states” and block demands for Palestinian statehood.

Sadat was naive to trust Begin, one of the Middle East’s most vicious terrorists. Begin had orchestrated some of the most heinous civilian atrocities during the 1947-1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, including the massacre of nearly 100 civilians in the small Palestinian village of Deir Yassin.

How we wrote it




The front page of the newspaper reported the accords’ progress, noting the summit reached a “decisive stage.”

That massacre, including pregnant women butchered and their bodies thrown into the village water well, shocked the Arab population of Palestine, prompting a refugee flight of fear. Before his Knesset speech, Sadat visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial which, ironically, is built on the remains of Deir Yassin. 

He was wooed by Israel and the US, and treated like a distinguished head of state for making peace with Israel. He toured the US in 1978 and was feted at dinners in several major American cities, including Chicago, where I joined 500 other Arab Americans protesting against his “surrender.” 

The Camp David Accords earned Sadat and Begin the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize but scorn in the Arab world. The Arab League reacted by removing Egypt from its membership and moving the organization’s headquarters from Cairo to Tunis. 

Israel’s strategy was clear to everyone but Sadat. He signed the accords after 12 days of intense negotiations in 1978, between Sept. 5 and 17. But just weeks before this, Begin inaugurated the settlement of Ariel, on seized land in the West Bank more than 16 kilometers east of the Green Line, which became a symbol of Israel’s continuing war against Palestinian statehood and the center of Israeli settlement expansion.

Despite the disconcerting reality on the ground, Sadat went ahead and signed a formal peace treaty with Israel at the White House on March 26, 1979, officially ending the conflict between the two countries.

Key Dates

  • 1

    US President Jimmy Carter writes to Egyptian counterpart Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin expressing his commitment to finding “a lasting peace settlement in the Middle East.”

    Timeline Image Feb. 14, 1977

  • 2

    In a handwritten letter, Carter appeals to Sadat for help: “The time has now come to move forward, and your early public endorsement of our approach is extremely important — perhaps vital.”

  • 3

    After Sadat announces his intention to visit Israel, the country’s new prime minister, Menachem Begin, addresses the Egyptian people from Jerusalem pleading for “no more wars, no more bloodshed.”

    Timeline Image Nov. 11, 1977

  • 4

    Carter writes private letters to Sadat and Begin, proposing they meet.

  • 5

    Sadat and Begin arrive at Camp David for 10 days of talks.

  • 6

    At 9:37 p.m. Carter, Begin and Sadat board presidential helicopter Marine 1 and fly from Maryland to the White House. At 10:31p.m., Begin and Sadat sign a framework for peace.

    Timeline Image Sept. 17, 1978

  • 7

    Sadat and Begin jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

    Timeline Image Oct. 27, 1978

  • 8

    Sadat and Begin sign the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in Washington.

  • 9

    Sadat assassinated in Cairo by Islamic extremists opposed to the peace treaty.

    Timeline Image Oct. 6, 1981

When you look at the five fundamentals of the accord, only two were actually achieved. Egypt did get the Sinai Peninsula back, under demilitarized conditions, and the two countries ended their state of war and established diplomatic relations. 

But three conditions were never met: meetings to resolve the Palestine question, with the involvement of Jordan, stalled; the introduction of Palestinian self-government in the West Bank and Gaza within five years failed; and an end to the Israeli settlements never even began. 

The accords were never allowed to stand in the way of plans to entrench Israel’s hold on the occupied territories. When US President Jimmy Carter lost his reelection bid on Nov. 4, 1980, and Sadat was assassinated while reviewing a military parade on Oct. 6, 1981, Begin was given the green light to close the door on Sadat’s “dream.” 

Despite political differences, US President Ronald Reagan attempted to follow up on Carter’s Middle East peace vision and in August 1982 proposed a “freeze” on settlements, urging Israel to grant Palestinians “autonomy” as a step toward statehood. 




Israeli Premier Menahem Begin (L) and Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat converse and joke during a meeting in July 1979 in Alexandria. AFP

Begin’s reaction was swift. On Sept. 2, 1982, with Carter and Sadat out of the way, he led a Knesset move to consolidate Israel’s hold on the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights, increasing the Jewish settler population. Israel, the Cabinet declared, would “reserve the right to apply sovereignty over the territories at the end of the five-year transition period” toward Palestinian “autonomy” that was specifically envisioned in the Camp David Accords. 

In 1978, the settler population was only 75,000. By 1990, it had tripled to 228,000. Today, in excess of half a million Israeli settlers occupy at least 370 settlements, or “outposts,” in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. 

This year, on Jan. 20, the first day of his second term in office, US President Donald Trump lifted the sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on far-right settler groups accused of violence against Palestinians. 

Ironically, while the Camp David accords were supposed to create an environment of hope and optimism, the failure to advance them beyond the return of the Sinai created a sense of fatalism that fueled extremism, evidenced most dramatically, and with such shocking consequences, by the fateful attacks by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. 

Although the peace between Egypt and Israel remains, the failure to achieve peace with the Palestinians has ensured the accords remain little more than a formal version of an armistice agreement, and relations between the two countries are defined solely by military cooperation. 

  • Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall political reporter. He is a columnist for Arab News and hosts the Ray Hanania Radio Show. 


Iran’s Paris-based opposition head says time for Khamenei to go, after US hits nuclear sites

Updated 1 min 7 sec ago
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Iran’s Paris-based opposition head says time for Khamenei to go, after US hits nuclear sites

Iran’s Paris-based opposition head says time for Khamenei to go, after US hits nuclear sites
PARIS: Maryam Rajavi, head of the Paris-based opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran said on Sunday that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was responsible for the nuclear program that had now “gone up in smoke” and needed to go.
“Now Khamenei must go. The Iranian people welcome the end of the war and seek peace and freedom,” she said in a statement, following unprecedented US strikes that President Donald Trump said had “obliterated” its key nuclear facilities.
“Khamenei is responsible for an unpatriotic project that, in addition to costing countless lives, has cost the Iranian people at least $2 trillion— and now, it has all gone up in smoke.”

Investors brace for oil price spike, rush to havens after US bombs Iran nuclear sites

Investors brace for oil price spike, rush to havens after US bombs Iran nuclear sites
Updated 3 min 43 sec ago
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Investors brace for oil price spike, rush to havens after US bombs Iran nuclear sites

Investors brace for oil price spike, rush to havens after US bombs Iran nuclear sites

NEW YORK: A US attack on Iranian nuclear sites could lead to a knee-jerk reaction in global markets when they reopen, sending oil prices higher and triggering a rush to safety, investors said, as they assessed how the latest escalation of tensions would ripple through the global economy.

The attack, which was announced by President Donald Trump on social media site Truth Social, deepens US involvement in the Middle East conflict. That was the question going into the weekend, when investors were mulling a host of different market scenarios.

In the immediate aftermath of the announcement, they expected the US involvement was likely to cause a selloff in equities and a possible bid for the dollar and other safe-haven assets when trading begins, but also said much uncertainty about the course of the conflict remained.

Trump called the attack “a spectacular military success” in a televised address to the nation and said Iran’s “key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.” He said the US military could go after other targets in Iran if the country did not agree to peace.

“I think the markets are going to be initially alarmed, and I think oil will open higher,” said Mark Spindel, chief investment officer at Potomac River Capital.

“We don’t have any damage assessment and that will take some time. Even though he has described this as ‘done,’ we’re engaged. What comes next?” Spindel said.

“I think the uncertainty is going to blanket the markets, as now Americans everywhere are going to be exposed. It’s going to raise uncertainty and volatility, particularly in oil,” he added.

Spindel, however, said there was time to digest the news before markets open and said he was making arrangements to talk to other market participants.

Oil prices, inflation

A key concern for markets would center around the potential impact of the developments in the Middle East on oil prices and thus on inflation. A rise in inflation could dampen consumer confidence and lessen the chance of near-term interest rate cuts.

“This adds a complicated new layer of risk that we’ll have to consider and pay attention to,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of Cresset Capital. “This is definitely going to have an impact on energy prices and potentially on inflation as well.”

While global benchmark Brent crude futures have risen as much as 18 percent since June 10, hitting a near five-month high of $79.04 on Thursday, the S&P 500 has been little changed, following an initial drop when Israel launched its attacks on Iran on June 13.

Before the US attack on Saturday, analysts at Oxford Economics modeled three scenarios, including a de-escalation of the conflict, a complete shutdown in Iranian oil production and a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, “each with increasingly large impacts on global oil prices.”

In the most severe case, global oil prices jump to around $130 per barrel, driving US inflation near 6 percent by the end of this year, Oxford said in the note.

“Although the price shock inevitably dampens consumer spending because of the hit to real incomes, the scale of the rise in inflation and concerns about the potential for second-round inflation effects likely ruin any chance of rate cuts in the US this year,” Oxford said in the note, which was published before the US strikes.

In comments after the announcement on Saturday, Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group, agreed oil prices would likely spike on the initial news. But Cox said he expected prices to likely level in a few days as the attacks could lead Iran to seek a peace deal with Israel and the US.

“With this demonstration of force and total annihilation of its nuclear capabilities, they’ve lost all of their leverage and will likely hit the escape button to a peace deal,” Cox said.

Economists warn that a dramatic rise in oil prices could damage a global economy already strained by Trump’s tariffs.

Still, any pullback in equities might be fleeting, history suggests. During past prominent instances of Middle East tensions coming to a boil, including the 2003 Iraq invasion and the 2019 attacks on Saudi oil facilities, stocks initially languished but soon recovered to trade higher in the months ahead.

On average, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3 percent in the three weeks following the start of conflict, but was 2.3 percent higher on average two months following the conflict, according to data from Wedbush Securities and CapIQ Pro.

Dollar woes 

An escalation in the conflict could have mixed implications for the US dollar, which has tumbled this year amid worries over diminished US exceptionalism.

In the event of US direct engagement in the Iran-Israel war, the dollar could initially benefit from a safety bid, analysts said.

“Do we see a flight to safety? That would signal yields going lower and the dollar getting stronger,” said Steve Sosnick, chief market strategist at IBKR in Greenwich, Connecticut. “It’s hard to imagine stocks not reacting negatively and the question is how much. It will depend on Iranian reaction and whether oil prices spike.”


Saudi Arabia says ‘no radioactive effects’ detected in Gulf after US strikes on Iran

Saudi Arabia says ‘no radioactive effects’ detected in Gulf after US strikes on Iran
Updated 6 min 32 sec ago
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Saudi Arabia says ‘no radioactive effects’ detected in Gulf after US strikes on Iran

Saudi Arabia says ‘no radioactive effects’ detected in Gulf after US strikes on Iran
  • Saudi Arabia’s Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission said Sunday that “no radioactive effects were detected” in the Kingdom and the Gulf region

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission said Sunday that “no radioactive effects were detected” in the Kingdom and the Gulf region as a result of the US military targeting of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“No radioactive effects were detected on the environment of the Kingdom and the Arab Gulf states as a result of the American military targeting of Iran’s nuclear facilities,” the commission wrote on its official account on X.

Kuwait’s National Guard also said that “radiation levels in Kuwait’s airspace and waters are stable and the situation is normal” according to a statement on KUNA News Agency.

The Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority confirmed on Sunday that the country is far from any direct impact resulting from targeting uranium enrichment and conversion facilities in Iran.

The United States on Sunday attacked three Iranian nuclear sites, including the underground uranium enrichment facility at Ford, following days of speculation over whether the US military would join its ally Israel’s bombing campaign.


Five militants killed, two CTD personnel injured in southwest Pakistan— police

Five militants killed, two CTD personnel injured in southwest Pakistan— police
Updated 22 June 2025
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Five militants killed, two CTD personnel injured in southwest Pakistan— police

Five militants killed, two CTD personnel injured in southwest Pakistan— police
  • Balochistan CTD carry out intelligence-based operation in Killa Abdullah district, say police 
  • Pakistani Taliban militants have carried out deadly attacks against law enforcers since decades

QUETTA: Five militants were killed while two Balochistan Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel were injured during a counterterror operation in southwestern Pakistan this week, CTD said. 

The CTD said its personnel conducted an intelligence-based operation in Jungle Pir Alizai area of Balochistan’s volatile Killah Abdullah district on Saturday when the exchange between the Pakistani Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants and law enforcers took place. 

“In an exchange of fire, five suspected terrorists were killed,” the CTD spokesperson said in a statement released Saturday night. “Weapons and explosives were recovered from the terrorists during the operation,” it added. 

CTD said maps of “sensitive locations” and other items were also recovered from the slain militants, adding that they were involved in militant activities in Pishin and Killa Abdullah districts.

The TTP has launched some of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces targeting civilians and law enforcers since 2007. 

Pakistan has suffered a surge in militant attacks in KP and Balochistan since November 2022 when peace talks between the state and the TTP broke down. 

Pakistan blames the Afghan government in Kabul for sheltering TTP militants that carry out attacks against Islamabad. The Afghan Taliban deny the allegations and have urged Islamabad to resolve its security challenges internally. 

The TTP has mainly carried out its operations in KP though it has also targeted Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land mass yet its most backward by almost all social and economic indicators. 

Balochistan has been rocked by a low-level insurgency for decades, where ethnic Baloch separatists accuse Islamabad of denying locals a share in the province’s natural and mineral resources. 

Pakistan denies the allegations and says it is carrying out several health, educational and development projects in the province. 


Additional US embassy staff left Iraq due to ‘regional tensions’: US official

Additional US embassy staff left Iraq due to ‘regional tensions’: US official
Updated 22 June 2025
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Additional US embassy staff left Iraq due to ‘regional tensions’: US official

Additional US embassy staff left Iraq due to ‘regional tensions’: US official
  • The departures were a continuation of a process that started last week
  • The embassy and the consulate remain operational

BAGHDAD: More personnel from the United States diplomatic mission departed Iraq over the weekend as part of ongoing efforts to reduce embassy staffing amid “regional tensions,” a US official said Sunday after Washington attacked Iranian nuclear sites.
“As part of our ongoing effort to streamline operations, additional personnel departed Iraq on June 21 and 22,” the US official told AFP.
The departures were a continuation of a process that started last week “out of an abundance of caution and due to heightened regional tensions,” he added.
The embassy and the consulate remain operational.
Earlier on Sunday, Washington joined Israel’s war with Tehran as President Donald Trump announced US strikes on Iran’s main nuclear sites.
Iran had threatened to target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out.
Fears are growing in Iraq over a possible intervention by Iran-backed armed factions, who have threatened Washington’s interests in the region if it were to join Israel in its war against Iran.
Iraq, which has for years been navigating a delicate balancing act between Tehran and Washington, has long been a fertile ground for proxy battles.