Done at Washington, D.C. this 26th day of March 1979, in triplicate in the English,
Arabic, and Hebrew languages, each text being equally authentic. In case of any diver-
gence of interpretation, the English text shall prevail.
FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT FOR THE
GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL
Witnessed by Jimmy Carter,
President of the United States of America
[Note: The treaty contained three annexes, plus “minutes” that defined particular terms in the
treaty and the annexes. Annex I dealt with procedures for Israel’s withdrawal from the Sinai
Peninsula and the establishment of a United Nations monitoring force there. Annex II was a
map of the international border between Egypt and Israel. Article III contained specific pro-
visions for the normalization of relations between Egypt and Israel.]
SOURCE:United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL), http://domino.un.org/
unispal.nsf/bc8b0c56b7bf621185256cbf005ac05f/b3414a2adff4ceaf8525721200790dd1!OpenDocument.The Reagan Plan
DOCUMENT IN CONTEXT
The war fought in Lebanon in the summer of 1982 highlighted the interconnected-
ness of the various conflicts in the Middle East. Israel invaded Lebanon in June 1982
to destroy the bases in southern Lebanon that Palestinian guerrillas used for launch-
ing artillery attacks against towns and villages in northern Israel. The invasion also had
broader purposes including strengthening the minority Christian-led government in
Lebanon and crushing the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which had estab-
lished its base in Lebanon after being expelled from Jordan eleven years earlier (Israeli
Invasion of Lebanon, p. 334).
One of the unintended outcomes of the war was the revival of U.S. interest in
promoting an overall peace settlement between the Arabs and Israelis. As had often
happened, the U.S. interest proved to be fleeting, lasting only until the various par-
ties made clear that they did not intend to follow the U.S. lead. In this case, the admin-
istration of President Ronald Reagan believed that Israel’s success in forcing the expul-
sion from Lebanon of the PLO leadership to Tunis and the dispersal of thousands of
guerrillas created an opening for a peace initiative. The administration hoped to build
on the success of the 1978–1979 Camp David peace process between Egypt and Israel,
which had culminated earlier in 1982 with Israel’s final withdrawal from the Sinai
Peninsula (Camp David Peace Process, p. 118).
ARABS AND ISRAELIS 131