Jimmy Carter Is Grateful For Passage of Part of His Middle East Peace Program

In November 1977, Egypt’s Anwar El became the first Arab leader to visit Israel, thereby implicitly recognizing it. In his astounding speech to the Israeli Knesset, Sadat talked about his views on peace, the status of Israel’s occupied territories, and the Palestinian refugee problem. The gesture stemmed from his eagerness to enlist the help of the United States in improving the ailing Egyptian economy, a belief that Egypt should begin to focus more on its own interests than on the interests of the Arab world, and a hope that an agreement with Israel would catalyze similar agreements between Israel and her other Arab neighbors and help solve the Palestinian problem. Prime Minister Begin’s response to Sadat’s initiative, though not what Sadat or Carter had hoped, demonstrated a willingness to engage the Egyptian leader. Like Sadat, Begin also saw many reasons why bilateral talks would be in his country’s best interests. The United States was clearly going to need to be an active participant in any peace, and it sent a representative to the preliminary Cairo Conference in December 1977. The next months were spent trying to lay the groundwork for a broad accord.

As part of that process, President Carter sought to demonstrate to the other Arab nations that peace would bring them benefits as well. In the spring of 1978 he proposed a package of military aid to Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia, planning to sell the latter nation ninety-one F-15C/D strike aircraft. The sale worried Israel, and although Carter argued that the complete package was necessary to his plans for peace, Israel and its allies in Washington opposed it. On May 15, 1978, the sale was approved by Congress in a narrow 54-to-44 vote, and only after Riyadh accepted restrictions that limited its ability to deploy the aircraft against Israel.

Typed Letter Signed on White House letterhead, Washington, May 25, 1978, to Senator William Scott of Virginia, thanking him for supporting the bill. “Please accept my personal thanks for your support on the arms sale vote. I feel strongly that these sales are in the national interest and will promote the prospects of peace in the Middle East.”

In September, Carter brought Sadat and Begin to the U.S. for a summit. This meeting resulted in the Camp David Accords, considered Carter’s finest hour as president, and led to a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Perhaps the biggest consequence of all may be in the psychology of the participants of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The success at Camp David demonstrated to other Arab states that negotiations with Israel were possible and that progress could result only from sustained efforts at communication and cooperation.