2023 marked the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, paving the way to a historic peace deal that reshaped the Middle East. The peace has endured despite significant regional turmoil, including the Arab Spring uprising in Egypt in the 2010s, and Israel’s war in Lebanon and ongoing conflict with the Palestinians. However, 2024 has seen this critical agreement tested like never before, due to Israel’s actions in Gaza. What has provoked these recent tensions, and why is this treaty so important to the region? To understand both, it is important to understand the history that led to the signing of the original treaty, and how it is specifically threatened by Israel’s recent actions in Gaza.
It is important to understand that the current dispute is not ideological. The two countries have an established working relationship going back decades, including with the current Israeli prime minister. The two countries even cooperated to blockade Gaza since Hamas took power. The current dispute is over provisions in additions to the treaty negotiated after Israel’s pullout from Gaza in 2005, which Israel violated when it took over the Gaza side of the Rafah border on May 7, 2024. The IDF now operates in the Philadelphi Corridor, demilitarized under the treaty, and has indicated that it wants to retain security control of the area after the war ends.Both sides oppose Hamas controlling the border crossing, but for the Egyptians, Israeli control is also unacceptable. Due to this, the border has been effectively shut since Israeli forces moved into the area. Both sides have blamed each other for the shutdown, while Palestinians wait on desperately-needed humanitarian aid.
This plays into a wider debate – both internationally and within Israel – about the Netanyahu government’s plan for a postwar Gaza. While the US and many other states have pushed for the Palestinian Authority to play a role as part of the path to a two-state solution, Netanyahu has discussed a greater Israeli security presence and a role for Arab states including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but is still yet to release a comprehensive plan. Any postwar governance plan that does not provide a pathway to a Palestinian state, regardless of any provisions for a multinational force, is unlikely to be accepted by regional actors, including Egypt.
One major Egyptian concern, consistent since the start of the war, has been the fear that Israel would push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into its territory. While Egypt has accepted refugees from other regional conflicts, it would view the displacement of hundreds of thousands Gazans into the Sinai peninsula (already a sensitive security zone for the Egyptian government) as a national security threat, a violation of the treaty, and as an attempt at ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
The Egyptian government faces a number of ongoing dilemmas. The military, which came to power after overthrowing the Muslim Brotherhood, is ideologically opposed to Hamas (which grew out of the Muslim Brotherhood). The long peace with Israel has been beneficial to Egypt, bringing it into alignment with the United States, ending decades of open war and militant attacks along the border, given Egypt a prominent regional voice as a peace actor (including in negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza) and brought security benefits as well. At the same time, Egypt’s military faces severe domestic pressure. Like many autocratic Arab states which partner with Israel, the government must balance its foreign and domestic approaches, considering the importance of the Palestinian cause throughout the Muslim world. Egypt is also in the midst of an economic crisis, and as a result, the government has been very public in its opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza, which includes joining South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.
The Camp David Accords are a foundational peace treaty in the region, and actors working to avoid escalation are working to ensure that it does not become a casualty of this ongoing war. The unexpected collaboration between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli PM Menachem Begin, two flawed politicians who nonetheless took great risks to build peace (which cost Sadat his life) is a powerful example that peace is always possible if leaders are willing to seek it out.
