The creation of Israel on May 14th, 1948

The creation of Israel on May 14th, 1948, sparked decades of conflict between the Jewish state and the many Arab states of the Middle East, including Jordan, Syria, and Egypt. The Arab states not only fought against

Israel, but also refused to recognize the state as legitimate; they saw the Jews as invaders and usurpers. For thirty years Israel and the Arab states struggled against each other. At times, the conflict would die down, but there was never a state of peace; the most that could be hoped for was a state of "not-fighting."

This perpetual conflict was abated somewhat when, on September 17th, 1978, history was made as Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Menachem Begin signed two peace accords at Camp David, making Egypt the first Arab country to not only make peace with Israel, but, by entering into a formal treaty, to acknowledge the country’s right to exist. This was a drastic change of policy for both countries; as recently as 1973, Egypt and Israel had fought over the Sinai, a large stretch of land belonging to Egypt, but taken by the Israelis in the War of 1967. What, then, could have caused these two countries to sign a peace agreement after so many years of bad blood? There are many answers to this question, but they all stem from a desire by both Israel and Egypt to increase their security, and, in doing so, to provide a greater quality of life for their citizens.

The ability of Anwar Sadat to even consider making peace with Israel was influenced by the fact that Egyptians possessed more than just an Arab identity. Despite Sadat’s predecessor Gamal Abdal Nasser’s push to unite all of the Arab states under Egypt’s control, Egypt still maintained a distinct and unique identity; an Egyptian identity. Sadat was able to use this identity to separate the country from the Arab pledge of no peace with Israel, and, as the negotiations took place, to even use the identity to justify his abandonment of the Palestinian cause. link