Diplomatic Normalization of Egypt and Israel
After signing a peace treaty, Egypt and Israel had to turn the treaty's promises into everyday diplomatic relations. Exchanging ambassadors in 1980 was one step in a longer, contested transition.
In early 1980, Egypt and Israel began establishing the diplomatic relationship promised in their peace treaty. Opening embassies and exchanging ambassadors made a political agreement tangible between countries that had repeatedly fought each other.
The breakthrough had begun with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem in November 1977. Talks with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, followed by U.S.-mediated negotiations at Camp David in 1978, created a framework for peace. The treaty was signed in Washington on March 26, 1979.
Keep reading in Yester
Coming soon to the App Store
Keep following the story
Sources
- Camp David Accords and the Arab-Israeli Peace Process (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- Letter From Sol Linowitz to President Carter, January 12, 1981, FRUS 1977-1980 Vol. IX, Doc. 413 (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- Camp David Accords (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- Arab League (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- Anwar Sadat (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- Hosni Mubarak (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- Letter Reporting on the Deployment and Mission of United States Forces in the Multinational Force and Observers, March 19, 1982 (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)
- Egypt–Israel peace treaty
Image: Dan Hadani