When Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Accords along with President Jimmy Carter in September 1978, it was hailed as a major breakthrough, a hard-won compromise that was meant to bring peace to the region and serve as a building block for an Israeli-Palestinian Peace. However, instead of building better relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, it ended up alienating the Arab world and many of Sadatâ??s own people. His commitment to peace created deep schisms and increased tensions within Egypt. Just three years after the signing, Sadat was assassinated, on October 6th, 1981, at Egyptâ??s annual parade, ironically celebrating the October 1973 War with Israel.
In Part I, Ambassador Alfred Leroy Atherton, Jr. recounts his experiences working as Ambassador to Egypt from 1979-1983 as he tried to tie up Camp Davidâ??s loose ends while dealing with Sadatâ??s growing authoritarianism and opposition, including the Muslim Brotherhood. He was interviewed by Dayton Mak beginning in 1990. Read Part II about the assassination and the aftermath.
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