The October 1973 War
After coming to power in Egypt in late 1970,
President Anwar Sadat indicated to UN envoy
Gunnar Jarring that he was willing to sign a peace
agreement with Israel in exchange for the
return of Egyptian territory lost in 1967 (the
Sinai Peninsula). When this overture was ignored
by Israel and the US, Egypt and Syria decided to
act to break the political stalemate. They
attacked Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and
the Golan Heights in October 1973, on the
Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. The surprise attack
caught Israel off guard, and the Arabs
achieved some early military victories. This
prompted American political intervention, along
with sharply increased military aid to Israel.
After the war, US Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger pursued a diplomatic strategy of limited
bilateral agreements to secure partial Israeli
withdrawals from the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan
Heights while avoiding negotiations on
more difficult issues, including the fate of the
West Bank and Gaza. By late 1975 these efforts
had exhausted their potential, and there was no
prospect of achieving a comprehensive
Arab-Israeli peace settlement.
In late 1977, Sadat decided to initiate a separate
overture to Israel. His visit to Jerusalem on
November 19, 1977 led to the Camp David accords and
the signing of an Egyptian-Israeli
peace treaty in 1979.
Camp David I
In September 1978, President Jimmy Carter invited
Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister
Menachem Begin to Camp David, a presidential
retreat in Maryland. They worked out two
agreements: a framework for peace between Egypt and
Israel, and a general framework for
resolution of the Middle East crisis, i.e. the
Palestinian question.
The first agreement formed the basis of the
Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty signed in 1979. The
second agreement proposed to grant autonomy to the
Palestinians in the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip, and to install a local administration
for a five-year interim period, after which the
final status of the territories would be
negotiated.
Only the Egyptian-Israeli part of the Camp David
accords was implemented. The Palestinians
and other Arab states rejected the autonomy concept
because it did not guarantee full Israeli
withdrawal from areas captured in 1967 or the
establishment of an independent Palestinian
state. In any case, Israel sabotaged negotiations
by continuing to confiscate Palestinian lands
and build new settlements in violation of the
commitments Menachem Begin made to Jimmy
Carter at Camp David.
P
____________________________________________________________
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After coming to power in Egypt in late 1970,
President Anwar Sadat indicated to UN envoy
Gunnar Jarring that he was willing to sign a peace
agreement with Israel in exchange for the
return of Egyptian territory lost in 1967 (the
Sinai Peninsula). When this overture was ignored
by Israel and the US, Egypt and Syria decided to
act to break the political stalemate. They
attacked Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and
the Golan Heights in October 1973, on the
Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. The surprise attack
caught Israel off guard, and the Arabs
achieved some early military victories. This
prompted American political intervention, along
with sharply increased military aid to Israel.
After the war, US Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger pursued a diplomatic strategy of limited
bilateral agreements to secure partial Israeli
withdrawals from the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan
Heights while avoiding negotiations on
more difficult issues, including the fate of the
West Bank and Gaza. By late 1975 these efforts
had exhausted their potential, and there was no
prospect of achieving a comprehensive
Arab-Israeli peace settlement.
In late 1977, Sadat decided to initiate a separate
overture to Israel. His visit to Jerusalem on
November 19, 1977 led to the Camp David accords and
the signing of an Egyptian-Israeli
peace treaty in 1979.
Camp David I
In September 1978, President Jimmy Carter invited
Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister
Menachem Begin to Camp David, a presidential
retreat in Maryland. They worked out two
agreements: a framework for peace between Egypt and
Israel, and a general framework for
resolution of the Middle East crisis, i.e. the
Palestinian question.
The first agreement formed the basis of the
Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty signed in 1979. The
second agreement proposed to grant autonomy to the
Palestinians in the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip, and to install a local administration
for a five-year interim period, after which the
final status of the territories would be
negotiated.
Only the Egyptian-Israeli part of the Camp David
accords was implemented. The Palestinians
and other Arab states rejected the autonomy concept
because it did not guarantee full Israeli
withdrawal from areas captured in 1967 or the
establishment of an independent Palestinian
state. In any case, Israel sabotaged negotiations
by continuing to confiscate Palestinian lands
and build new settlements in violation of the
commitments Menachem Begin made to Jimmy
Carter at Camp David.
P
____________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send a newsletter, share photos & files, conduct polls, organize chat events. Visit http://in/ groups.yahoo.com