When Anwar Sadat came to Jerusalem 40 years ago

[Solomon2]

When Anwar Sadat came to Jerusalem 40 years ago
Snapshots from historic visit by Egypt's president capture a laugh with Menachem Begin, cheering schoolchildren throwing flowers, and reporters frantically filing their stories
By TOI STAFF21 November 2017, 7:16 pm


The Knesset on Tuesday marked the 40 year anniversary of the historic visit by former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat to Israel, which paved the way for the peace deal between the two former enemy countries.

On November 20, 1977, Sadat became the first — and so far only — Arab leader to visit Israel and address the Knesset with a call for peace.

Sadat’s visit heralded Israeli-Egyptian talks at Camp David a year later, and a full peace agreement in 1979, just six years after the painful Yom Kippur War.

After arriving at Ben Gurion Airport on November 19, Sadat met with Begin. The next day, he prayed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, before heading to Israel’s parliament to give his speech (full text here).

“I sincerely tell you that before us today lies the appropriate chance for peace, if we are really serious in our endeavors for peace. It is a chance that time cannot afford once again. It is a chance that, if lost or wasted, the plotter against it will bear the curse of humanity and the curse of history,” Sadat told the Knesset in Arabic.

Photographs from the visit show Sadat deep in conversation with Israeli leaders, flower-adorned schoolchildren waiting in Jerusalem for a glimpse of the Egyptian president, and journalists from around the world frantically dispatching their reports.

Sadat was assassinated in 1981.

Egyptian president Anwar Sadat prays at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on November 20, 1977 (Miki Tzarfati/GPO archive)

Prime Minister Menachem Begin welcomes Egyptian president Anwar Sadat at Ben Gurion Airport on November 19, 1997 (Moshe Milner/GPO archive

Reporters filing their stories from the Jerusalem Theater communications center during Egyptian president Anwar Sadat’s historic visit to Israel on November 21, 1977 (Ya’akov Sa’ar/GPO archive)

Anwar Sadat with Golda Meir and Shimon Peres in the Knesset. (Ya’acov Sa’ar/GPO)

 

[Solomon2]

Egyptian Ambassador to Israel Hazem Khairat – Courtesy of AFP
Palestine-Israel peace serves counter-terrorism: Egypt’s Amb to Israel
By: Egypt Today staff

Fri, Nov. 24, 2017

CAIRO – 24 November 2017: Egyptian Ambassador to Israel Hazem Khairat met on Wednesday President Reuven Rivlin within a ceremony hosted at the President’s Residence in Tel Aviv to mark the 40th anniversary of the historic visit of late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem.

Khairat stressed, during the meeting, the need to achieve peace between the Palestinians and Israelis, explaining that this step would contribute significantly to combating terrorism in the region.

He added that Egypt is determined to benefit from the recent internal Palestinian reconciliation deal to resume peace talks to achieve a sincere and comprehensive peace agreement between the two nations.

For his part, Rivlin said that Sadat's visit to Israel changed the history of the Middle East, adding that peace with Egypt was a message to the whole world.

The Knesset on Tuesday marked the anniversary of the historic visit, which paved the way for the peace deal between the two former enemy countries.

Sadat was the first — and so far only — Arab leader to visit Israel and address the Knesset with a call for peace.

 

[Gomig-21]

I remember this day very well. The whole country was glued to the TV.

Anwar Sadat with Golda Meir and Shimon Peres in the Knesset. (Ya’acov Sa’ar/GPO)

There's another picture of the two of them laughing hysterically.
He was a great man, paid for peace with his life.

 

[Solomon2]

I remember this day very well. The whole country was glued to the TV.
There's another picture of the two of them laughing hysterically.
He was a great man, paid for peace with his life.

My emotions about him are mixed. Why go to war with Israel since he intended to pursue a policy of peace all along? Kissinger writes that the reason was that Sadat felt Egypt needed a successful war to retrieve the honor it had lost. So Jews had to suffer and die for the abuses Egyptians suffered at the hands of Christian Europeans!

Illogical, of course. But once that was done - once the 1973 conflict ceased with Egypt having regained a few kilometers in the Sinai - a few years later Sadat felt he could pursue peace with the Jewish State in earnest. The announcement he would fly to Jerusalem was absolutely electrifying and scarcely believable. Not until Sadat stepped off his plane.

 

[Gomig-21]

My emotions about him are mixed. Why go to war with Israel since he intended to pursue a policy of peace all along? Kissinger writes that the reason was that Sadat felt Egypt needed a successful war to retrieve the honor it had lost. So Jews had to suffer and die for the abuses Egyptians suffered at the hands of Christian Europeans!

I like the way you put that last sentence.

Kissinger's word is not the end all be all to be perfectly honest with you. There is the argument that Sadat's offers for peace in return for the Sinai (1970-1972) were disingenuous, but by the same token, Israel's offers were also laughable considering they came with utterly ridiculous conditions, such as Israel maintaining portions of the Sinai. Who in their right minds would accept anything of the sort? Even after the peace treaty and nearly full withdrawal of Sinai, there was the issue with Taba and Mubarak was immovable and it ended up being voted in favor of Egypt through international arbitration (that also puts the current Jerusalem issue into clear context specifically because of the Taba decision.) No one gives up any of their land for any reason. So if Sadat's offers were perceived as disingenuous because he knew they wouldn't be accepted, thus giving him a chance to prepare for war, then the same applies to the Israelis since what they were asking for wasn't realistic either.

It's hard to tell if Sadat conveyed those intentions he had to Kissinger post-1973, despite the two developing a warm relationship. Somehow I highly doubt he would've given up that info since in his memoirs, he was explicit about how he offered peace in return for Sinai and was refused. Even Golda Meir admitted that she didn't believe him and claimed it wasn't true peace but rather non-belligerence, and that Israel couldn't accept that.

1973 had to happen. I don't think Egypt would've fared well after both defeats in 1956 & 1967 if it didn't show the ability to fight well, and it achieved that. I don't think there was a way for peace without that. Making peace was tough enough on Egypt after the success of 1973. Not that the Arab world's outlook on Egypt was insignificant, but more importantly was the how the Egyptian people would've felt about that. I doubt they would've accepted any peace without a fight and that must've been on Sadat's mind. He would've had a tough time garnering the people's support without a successful military campaign. So it's quite possible he did play that card and played it brilliantly.

Illogical, of course. But once that was done - once the 1973 conflict ceased with Egypt having regained a few kilometers in the Sinai - a few years later Sadat felt he could pursue peace with the Jewish State in earnest. The announcement he would fly to Jerusalem was absolutely electrifying and scarcely believable. Not until Sadat stepped off his plane.

That was something. Here's the one of them cracking up. She was giving him a gift and he must've said something funny because they went into a laughing frenzy. Maybe he asked if it was humus? lol

 

[The SC]

It is quite simple.. Sadat asked Usrael many times to return Sinai to Egypt peacefully, but his demands were utterly refused, since Usrael thought it was invincible in war.. So he went to war, won it and got the Sinai peninsula back to where it belongs, and then went to the Knesset to tell them.. I told you so.. now we can laugh about it and enjoy some peace..