Thirteen Days to a Different Peace

For thirteen days in September 1978, three leaders worked at a secluded presidential retreat in Maryland. Anwar Sadat of Egypt, Menachem Begin of Israel and Jimmy Carter of the United States had not arrived with a finished peace to announce. They faced disputes over territory, security and political recognition that years of conflict had made difficult to separate. The isolation of Camp David created time for negotiation, not an escape from those disagreements.

Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem in 1977 had already broken a major barrier by bringing an Egyptian president directly before Israelis. A dramatic gesture, however, was not a treaty. Subsequent talks struggled to turn recognition of the possibility of peace into terms that governments could accept. Egypt wanted the return of Sinai, which Israel had occupied since 1967, while Israel sought security and a durable change in its relationship with Egypt.