By Christopher Harper
The Camp David Accords—once heralded by the United
States, Israel, and Egypt as a solution to the Middle East crisis—continue to
stymie any significant efforts to address the problems in the region.
More than 40 years ago, I arrived in the Middle East
just after the peace agreement was signed. At the time, Americans saw the
agreement as a major step forward. Instead, the accords resulted in the
isolation of Egypt—once the leader of the Arab world.
Until now, Egypt has been relegated to a secondary
role in the region. Moreover, the agreement led directly to the assassination
of Anwar Sadat, the rise of Saddam Hussein, and myriad troubles in the Middle
East from Syria to Libya and even Iran.
For Egypt and Israel, the agreement has resulted in
what many call a “cold peace” during which the two countries don’t face the
possibility of war but with little interaction beyond cursory talks about
security and economic issues.
For example, my wife and I have been traveling
throughout Egypt over the past two weeks. We wanted to stop in Israel for a
short visit. But we found it virtually impossible to find a way to travel
directly between the two countries.
The huge volume of U.S. aid has had almost no impact
on improving the lot of the average Egyptian, most of whom see little benefit
from the Camp David agreement.
Cultural exchanges—once seen as a way to improve
relations between Egyptians and Israelis–have faltered badly. For example, Farouk
Hosnoy, the former minister for culture for more than two decades, refused to
visit Israel and threatened to burn any Israeli book he found in the Alexandria
library. Every year, organizers of Cairo Film Festival refuse to allow Israel
to participate in the event. When the Israeli Center for Research and Information
translated Alaa al-Aswany’s popular novel, The Yacoubian Building, he threatened
to sue the center because he opposed to cultural normalization with Israel.
At one point, Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court
upheld a ruling that ordered the revocation of citizenship from 30,000 Egyptian
men married to Israeli women.
The long-term tension between Israel and Hamas, which
controls the Gaza Strip that borders Egypt, has created problems for the Cairo
government. The Egyptians, who brokered a ceasefire agreement between Israel
and Hamas, has grown increasingly tired of the actions of both sides.
Despite the long list of diplomatic ills, however, a
recent gas deal between Egypt and Israel provides some hope for the future.
Partners in Israel’s Leviathan and Tamar offshore gas fields agreed last
year to sell $15 billion worth of gas to a customer in Egypt in what Israeli
officials called the most significant deal to emerge since the neighbors made
peace in 1979.
With this significant step in economic ties, perhaps the “cold peace”
will at least result in some future cooperation between the two sides. But the
Camp David accords—once hailed as the pathway to peace in the region—will remain
a sore point for Egypt, Israel, and the rest of the Middle East.
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