Report Outline
Post-Treaty Focus on West Bank
Cultural Roots of the Conflict
Barriers to a Palestine Solution
Special Focus
Post-Treaty Focus on West Bank
Begin-Sadat Talks on Palestinian Autonomy
The Arab-Israeli conflict has been transformed by two historic events this year: an Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty and a revolution in Iran. The treaty focused attention on the next item on the agenda for Middle East negotiations: autonomy for the Palestinians in territories occupied by Israel. The Iranian revolution, which replaced the monarchy of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi with an “Islamic Republic,” brought to the surface cultural forces of immense power. The interaction of such intangible cultural forces with concrete details of boundaries, administration and security measures in the occupied territories is both explosive and difficult to comprehend. And yet much depends on understanding, and peacefully resolving, the clash of civilizations represented in the 2,305 square miles of the West Bank and Gaza — an area less than half the size of Connecticut.
Egypt and Israel began negotiations on Palestinian autonomy May 25 in Beersheba, two months after the March 26 signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in Washington. The treaty fulfilled one of the two agreements reached by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at a secluded summit meeting sponsored by President Carter at Camp David, Md., last Sept. 5–17. The treaty provided for a phased Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Sinai and establishment of normal diplomatic, economic and cultural relations between the two countries. The other agreement, “A Framework for Peace in the Middle East,” outlined a process for determining the future of the West Bank and Gaza.
Between the Camp David agreement and the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli treaty, negotiations were several times threatened with complete breakdown. Finally, in a dramatic gamble, President Carter went to Cairo and Jerusalem, March 8–13, and persuaded Begin and Sadat to accept a compromise. |
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Israel, Palestine, and Middle East Peace |
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Dec. 11, 2020 |
The Abraham Accords |
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Apr. 13, 2018 |
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict |
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Mar. 09, 2018 |
Saudi Arabia's Uncertain Future |
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Jun. 21, 2013 |
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict |
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May 2009 |
Middle East Peace Prospects |
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Oct. 27, 2006 |
Middle East Tensions  |
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Jan. 21, 2005 |
Middle East Peace |
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Aug. 30, 2002 |
Prospects for Mideast Peace |
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Apr. 06, 2001 |
Middle East Conflict |
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Mar. 06, 1998 |
Israel At 50 |
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Aug. 30, 1991 |
The Palestinians |
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Oct. 19, 1990 |
The Elusive Search for Arab Unity |
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Feb. 24, 1989 |
Egypt's Strategic Mideast Role |
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Apr. 15, 1988 |
Israel's 40-Year Quandary |
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Mar. 02, 1984 |
American Involvement in Lebanon |
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Nov. 12, 1982 |
Reagan's Mideast Peace Initiative |
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Apr. 23, 1982 |
Egypt After Sadat |
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Jan. 04, 1980 |
Divided Lebanon |
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Jul. 20, 1979 |
West Bank Negotiations |
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Dec. 01, 1978 |
Middle East Transition |
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Jan. 13, 1978 |
Saudi Arabia's Backstage Diplomacy |
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Oct. 29, 1976 |
Arab Disunity |
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May 16, 1975 |
Middle East Diplomacy |
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Sep. 13, 1974 |
Palestinian Question |
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Dec. 12, 1973 |
Middle East Reappraisal |
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Apr. 25, 1973 |
Israeli Society After 25 Years |
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Aug. 19, 1970 |
American Policy in the Middle East |
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Apr. 25, 1969 |
Arab Guerrillas |
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Aug. 02, 1967 |
Israeli Prospects |
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Jul. 06, 1966 |
Middle East Enmities |
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Apr. 14, 1965 |
Relations with Nasser |
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Aug. 17, 1960 |
Arab-Israeli Deadlock |
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May 27, 1959 |
Middle East Instability |
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Jun. 04, 1958 |
Nasser and Arab Unity |
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Oct. 02, 1957 |
Soviet Threat in Middle East |
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Sep. 18, 1956 |
Suez Dispute and Strategic Waterways |
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May 09, 1956 |
Middle East Commitments |
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Apr. 13, 1955 |
Middle East Conflicts |
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Mar. 31, 1954 |
Security in the Mideast |
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Oct. 23, 1952 |
Israel and the Arab States |
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Jan. 30, 1952 |
Egyptian Crisis and Middle East Defense |
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Mar. 17, 1948 |
Palestine Crisis |
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Feb. 18, 1946 |
Soviet Russia and the Middle East |
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