Here’s a look at what you need to know about the Camp David Accords.
On September 17, 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and US President Jimmy Carter signed the Camp David Accords in Washington.
The Details of the Camp David Accords:
Called for a formal peace treaty to be signed between Israel and Egypt, within three months.
Called for establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Called for Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula in stages, to be completed within three years.
Called for further meetings to resolve the Palestinian question. The meeting would include Jordan and a representative of the Palestinian people.
Called for a five-year transitional period of Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza. This transitional period would include the introduction of Palestinian self-government.
Called for an end to Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Did not settle the question of East Jerusalem.
Timeline:
November 9, 1977 – Sadat announces that he is “ready to go to the Israeli parliament itself” to resolve the conflict in the Middle East. This is despite the fact that the two countries do not have diplomatic relations and are technically still at war.
November 15, 1977 – Through the United States, Israel formally extends an invitation to Sadat to visit the country.
November 19-21, 1977 – Sadat makes a historic first visit by an Arab head of state to Israel. During the three-day visit, Sadat meets with Begin, addresses the Knesset, and lays a wreath at a monument to Israeli war dead.
December 2-5, 1977 – Representatives from Syria, Iraq, Libya, Algeria, South Yemen and the Palestine Liberation Organization meet in Libya to discuss ways of stopping the Israeli-Egyptian peace process.
December 5, 1977 – Egypt cuts diplomatic ties with Syria, Iraq, Libya, Algeria and South Yemen.
December 14, 1977 – Egypt hosts Israel, the US and the United Nations at a peace summit in Cairo.
December 25-26, 1977 – Sadat hosts Begin at a summit in Ismailia, Egypt.
September 6, 1978 – The peace summit begins in Camp David, Maryland. After meeting formally on the first day of the 13-day summit, Sadat and Begin do not meet again during the negotiations. Instead, Carter acts as a go-between.
September 19, 1978 – The Egyptian Cabinet approves the agreement.
September 28, 1978 – The Israeli Knesset approves the agreement.
November 1978 – PLO leader Yasser Arafat travels to Moscow to discuss organized opposition to the agreement. The PLO and the Soviet Union release a statement describing the accords as “a collusion at the expense of and behind the backs of the Arabs aimed at helping Israel entrench [itself] on captured Arab land, including Palestine, and prevent implementation of the Palestinians’ inalienable national rights.”
March 26, 1979 – In a ceremony in Washington, Egypt and Israel formally sign a peace treaty ending 31 years of war between them.