The Legacy of Camp David

Since the “Six Day War” in June 1967, countless American and other diplomats have sought almost continuously to broker peace between Israel and its surrounding Arab enemies. From that tangled history, one achievement stands tallest in a forest of scrub: the Egypt-Israel Treaty signed on March 26, 1979 on the White House front lawn by President Anwar Sadat, Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and President Jimmy Carter. That the peace agreement remains intact 30 years later would have confounded many who applauded enthusiastically at its signing, but were convinced that without parallel agreements with Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Palestinians, its life span would be fragile and probably brief.