Camp David, four decades
FOUR decades ago the leaders of Israel and Egypt reached a deal at an epic summit that led to the first peace treaty between the Jewish state and an Arab nation.
The Camp David Accords, thrashed out over days of talks hosted by then US president Jimmy Carter, were signed on September 17, 1978.
Here is a look back at that key moment in history.
In 1973, Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack on Israel with the aim of forcing it to return territory seized from them in 1967.
Egypt makes a significant advance, even though it is eventually repelled.
Empowered, it agrees to attend a peace conference called in December in Geneva under the auspices of the United States and Soviet Union.
It brings Israelis and Arabs toget her for direct negotiations for t he first time. Sy rians and Palestinians do not attend, however, and the meeting adjourns.
On November 9, 1977 Egypt’s president Anwar Sadat announces – to the general surprise of all – that he is prepared to visit Israel in a bid for peace.
“I am ready to go to the end of the world if this would prevent the wounding, let alone the killing, of a soldier or an officer,” he says.
After receiv ing a formal invitation from then Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Sadat arrives i n Jerusalem on November 19, making t he first v isit by an Arab head of state to t he Jew ish nation. Sadat shakes hands with his foes in the Israeli leadership and calls for a “just and permanent peace” in the entire region.
But it takes 10 more months of tough diplomatic exchange before further negotiations can take place.
In August 1978, Carter invites Sadat and Begin to meet in the United States.
Their summit gets under way on September 5 at Camp David, t he presidentia l weekend retreat 100 k ilometres from Washington, in a forested area wit h about 20 chalets.
For 13 days t he t hree ta lk, surrounded by their diplomatic and milita r y adv isors, cut of f from the rest of t he world.
They sketch out and discuss 23 versions of an eventual peace accord, making countless rev isions.
The negotiations continue into the night and at times the summit teeters on the edge of brea kdown. Carter is in a constant back-and-fort h bet ween Sadat and Begin. Eventually, it a ll comes toget her. Sadat and Begin sign the Camp David Accords on September 17, a determined Carter pushing negotiations until the ver y last minute. The two foes embrace, stunning the world.
There are two documents: the