Volume six of the series Israel's Foreign Relations covering the years 1979 and 1980, deals predominantly with the evolution of Israel-Egypt relations after the signing of the peace treaty in March 1979. Attention is paid to the progress of the autonomy negotiations, the visits of President Navon and Prime Minister Begin to Egypt and those of President Sadat to Israel, and in the annexes, a number of key Israel-Egypt agreements are fully reproduced. Israel's struggle in the United Nations General Assembly, Security Council and various UN organs, is also highlighted as most of the Arab states continued to undermine Israel's position in the UN and to attack the Camp David Accords and the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. They were, at times, aided by European initiatives. There is also material dealing with the situation in Judea and Samaria and in Jerusalem.
All the documents have been previously published in various forms, many of them as press bulletins issued by the Israel Government Press Office in Jerusalem. Others were issued by the Press Department of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Material also appeared in the official records of the UN General Assembly and Security Council.
There has been virtually no editing of the text, and where text was deleted, it is so indicated. The bulk of the translation effort from Hebrew to English was carried out by the staff of the Israel Government Press Office who deserve much credit. As in the previous, volumes in this series, no attempt has been made to impose on the different translations uniformity of style or even consistency of spelling. Hence English and American spelling often interchange as well as the use of capital letters. Most of the documents are reproduced as they first appeared, intended for the use of the press and thus time, and not style, was of the essence.
Editorial notes placed before each one of the documents attempt to put the material in a historical and chronological context, and to indicate if they appear in toto or are excerpted.
This volume is dedicated to the memory of Moshe Dayan, who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from June 1977 to October 1979. Soldier and statesman, he was the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Agriculture and Defense Minister, and played a key role in the negotiations that led to the attainment of the Camp David Accords and the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
October 1984
Meron Medzini