19. Jimmy Carter used Camp David to pursue peace in the Middle East
The Camp David Accords, an agreement between the United States, Egypt, and Israel, came about when Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, and Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, accepted President Carter’s invitation to meet at Camp David and negotiate a peace between the two Mideast nations. The negotiations were long, dietary restrictions and requirements strained the camp’s facilities, and several times the effort seemed doomed to fail. Both the Egyptians and the Israelis threatened several times to break off negotiations. Both Begin and Sadat refused to speak to each other, and Carter acted as a go-between, relaying statements by both men.
After ten days the talks were at a standstill, and the coolness between Sadat and Begin had become frigid. Both sides saw no reason to continue. Carter refused to allow either side to quit, insisting that they were near a breakthrough. The American president told both foreign leaders that returning to their country with nothing would be politically disastrous for them. In the end, they agreed, and the Camp David Accords were completed. While many of their provisions have failed, there has been no open hostilities between Egypt and Israel since the Accords were negotiated at Camp David in 1978.
