The development of the Israeli-Egyptian-American relationship from the death of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in September 1970 to the Camp David Agreements in September 1978

The major theme of my dissertation is the development of the American-Israeli-Egyptian relationship from the death of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in September 1970 to the Camp David Agreements in September 1978. During these years, Egypt, the most powerful Arab military state, moved away from its dependence upon the Soviet Union for military and political support and turned to the United States, Israel's advocate, to demilitarize its conflict with Israel.;The dominating personality of this period was Anwar Sadat, who replaced Nasser as Egypt's President. Sadat's nationalistic, rather then pan-Arab priorities changed the history of the Middle East. In February 1971 he became the first Arab leader to offer to end the state of war against Israel. In July 1972 Sadat expelled Soviet military advisers, but did not end his dependence upon the Soviets for military support. At the same time, the Egyptian President began back channel political discussions with the Nixon Administration. In 1973, Sadat's political objectives had not materialized. The United States failed to limit its military support of Israel. The Israeli government would not allow Egypt to occupy areas of the Sinai Peninsula that Sadat sought as part of his peace initiatives. Therefore, Sadat went to war against Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, in order to end the present "no war, no peace" situation in the region.;Another important theme concerned Israeli politics and how the personalities and the complicated nature of the Israeli political system influenced its ability to conduct foreign policy. During the decade of the 1970's, the Labor party's control of the Israeli political establishment declined and Menachem Begin's Likud party won the 1977 parliamentary election. The reasons for the Likud party's victory were that the Israeli public became disillusioned with the Labor party because of the early military set backs and casualties experienced during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Labor party' s divided political leadership under Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his Defense Minister Shimon Peres following the war.;The United States played a major role in mediating the Arab-Israeli dispute. After the 1973 war, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger negotiated two Israeli-Egyptian agreements that demilitarized the conflict between Egypt and Israel with Egypt regaining part of the Sinai Peninsula. By 1975, Kissinger's step by step diplomatic efforts had ended. In 1977, the Carter Administration sought a comprehensive Middle East settlement, but the other Arab states refused to be part of any negotiated settlement with Israel. Sadat's historical visit to Israel in November 1977 resulted in Egypt ending its state of war against Israel and changed the calculus of the Arab-Israeli dispute. Three months later, President Carter decided to negotiate directly with Sadat and Begin. Carter's extensive discussions and views expressed by the parties in these meetings set the stage for the Camp David agreements that were signed in September 1978. These agreements established diplomatic relations between Israel and Egypt, Egypt regained all of the Sinai Peninsula and a frame work for expanding the Middle East peace process with other Arab parties was established.