One of former President Jimmy Carter’s most significant accomplishments was achieving a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt after 30 years of conflict. The Camp David Accords of 1978, successfully negotiated by Carter, marked the first peace agreement in the Middle East.
The deal was a crucial milestone in diplomatic efforts, according to Martin Indyk, Lowy distinguished fellow in U.S.-Middle East diplomacy at the Council on Foreign Relations. While there had been other agreements prior, none was as important or impactful as this treaty.
Indyk noted that Carter’s determination to focus on Israel and Egypt’s peace settlement was a decision of “genius.” Instead of trying to tackle the issue of Palestinian sovereignty, Carter took a riskier approach by committing solely to broker a peace treaty between the two countries.
Arab-Israeli peace has often been considered a holy grail of American diplomacy. The achievement became particularly noteworthy, given that it occurred despite other economic and foreign affairs struggles during Carter’s presidency.
As reported by Martin Indyk, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat initiated the pursuit of peace negotiations, traveling to Jerusalem in November 1977 and giving an historic speech to declare his interest in peace.
Previous attempts, led by Henry Kissinger in 1973, had culminated in the signing of the Israeli-Egyptian disengagement pact but were unsuccessful. However, upon assuming office in 1977, Carter and Sadat persisted, leading ultimately to the negotiations and signing of the Camp David Accords.
