Strategic Assessment

When Israel signed a peace agreement with Egypt in 1979, many hoped that the agreement was the harbinger of a new era, a breakthrough that would bring about a fundamental change in Israel’s relations with the Arab world. While this did not occur, the author contends that from the start there was never a chance for little more than cold peace or “non-war.” Nevertheless, this does not erase the positive balance over the thirty years – the survival of the agreement during trying times, and the absence of real internal Egyptian pressure to end the peace and return to war.