1977-1981: Camp David and the Egyptian-Israeli Treaty

This documentary source collection is unique because it first and foremost includes materials not provided by the Foreign Relations documents of the United States, particularly items translated to English from Israeli/Hebrew sources. American-centric written materials on the Camp David negotiations crush Israel with unforgiving intransigence. The materials here—when compared to American memoirs—give a broader picture of what unfolded before, during, and after the Camp David negotiations in September 1978. Of particular value in this collection are the regular Israeli delegation meetings where tactics were revised to meet American pressures, but Israel’s strategic outlooks on no Palestinian state, no self-determination, no foreign sovereignty over the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and no permanent halt to settlements remained constant. There are no known full American made transcripts of any meetings held during the Camp David accords. From the American participants, there are partial diaries of selected meetings, sometimes self-serving memoirs, and personal notes that have been used to shape the writing and interpretations of the Camp David negotiations. Accordingly, a pro-Carter administration outlook about the accords has evolved, with the exception of memoirs published by Israelis who were Camp David participants, and one excellent book, Year of the Dove, 1979