Our World: The legacy of a teetering peace
By CAROLINE B. GLICK, The Jerusalem Post
February 15, 2011
As Israel moves into the uncharted territory of managing its relations
with the post-Mubarak Egypt, it is imperative that our leaders
understand the lessons of the past.
One of the first casualties of the Egyptian revolution may very well
be Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel. The Egyptian public’s
overwhelming animus towards Jews renders it politically impossible for
any Egyptian leader to come out in support of the treaty.
Over the weekend, the junta now ruling Egypt refused to explicitly
commit itself to maintaining the treaty. Instead, under intense
American pressure they sufficed with stating that they would maintain
all of Egypt’s international obligations. According to news reports,
the generals themselves are split in their positions on Israel. One
group supports maintaining the treaty. The other supports its
abrogation.
Ayman Nour, the head of the oppositionist Ghad Party and the man
heralded as the liberal democratic alternative to Mubarak by
Washington neo-conservatives has called for the peace treaty to be
abrogated. In an interview with an Egyptian radio station he said,
“The Camp David Accords are finished. Egypt has to at least conduct
negotiations over conditions of the agreement.”
The Muslim Brotherhood has been outspoken in its call to end the
treaty since it was signed 32 years ago.
Whatever ends up happening, it is clear that Israel is entering a new
era in its relations with Egypt. And before we can begin contending
with its challenges, we must first consider the legacy of the peace
treaty that then prime minister Menachem Begin signed with then
Egyptian president Anwar Sadat on March 26, 1979.
What was the nature of Israel’s agreement with Egypt? What was its
impact on Israel’s strategic vision? What were the strategic
assumptions that formed the basis of its component parts? How did all
of these issues impact Israel’s perception of the longterm prospects
for its relations with Egypt?
WHEN BEGIN and Sadat signed the peace
treaty, their act was the culmination of 15 months of negotiations
catalyzed by Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem and his speech before the
Knesset in November 1977.
Sadat’s visit to Israel’s capital was an extraordinary gesture. Here
was the man who just four years earlier had waged an unprovoked,
brutal war of aggression against Israel that placed the country in
mortal danger and killed some 2,600 of its finest sons.
Here was the leader of the country that had fought five unprovoked
wars of aggression against Israel in 29 years.
And yet suddenly, here was this man, Israel’s greatest foe standing
before the Knesset and declaring that he was not seeking a ceasefire,
but peace. As he put it, “I have not come to you to seek a partial
peace, namely to terminate the state of belligerency at this stage...
I have come to you so that together we might build a durable peace
based on justice, to avoid the shedding of one single drop of blood
from an Arab or an Israeli.”
The effect of Sadat’s visit on the Israeli psyche generally and on
Begin’s mindset in particular was profound.
A new book of the two leaders’ correspondence, Peace in the Making:
The Menachem Begin-Anwar Sadat Personal Correspondence edited by Harry
Hurwitz and Yisrael Medad of the Begin Heritage Center presents
readers with a portrait of the Israeli leader enthralled with the
belief that he and Sadat were embarking their nations on the road to a
peaceful future.
To read the rest, please go to: www.jpost.com
Indeed, a must read. A little long, but it was worth it.
ReplyDeleteIsraelis still haven't realized the change in Bedouin allegiance that is mentioned in the article, even when it is thrown in their face.