Historical Figure
Anwar Sadat
1918–1981
President of Egypt from 1970 to 1981
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"Press Conference with Reagan" — 1981
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Biography
Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the 3rd president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad on 6 October 1981. Sadat was a senior member of the Free Officers who overthrew King Farouk I in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and a close confidant of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, under whom he served as the vice president twice and whom he succeeded as president in 1970. In 1978, Sadat and Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, signed a peace treaty in cooperation with United States President Jimmy Carter, for which they were recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize.
Timeline
The story of Anwar Sadat, told in moments.
Joined Gamal Abdel Nasser's Free Officers in overthrowing King Farouk. Sadat read the coup announcement on the radio. He was the voice, Nasser the strategist.
Flew to Jerusalem and addressed the Israeli Knesset. No Arab leader had ever set foot in Israel. He told the stunned chamber: "I come to you today on solid ground to shape a new life." Egypt's parliament had voted against the trip.
Signed the Camp David Accords with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, brokered by Jimmy Carter. They shared the Nobel Peace Prize. Most of the Arab world cut ties with Egypt.
Assassinated during a military parade in Cairo. Soldiers from within his own army opened fire from a passing truck. He was 62. Only three Arab heads of state attended the funeral.
In Their Own Words (7)
I do not deny the State of Israel’s right to be recognized by all countries of the region, provided that the whole situation is normalized. A peace agreement should provide for the establishment of a Palestinian State in the West Bank of the Jordan and the Gaza Strip, and Israel should withdraw from the territories it occupied in 1967.
1967
Conceive with me a peace agreement… based on the following points: First: ending the Israeli occupation of the Arab territories occupied in 1967. Second: achievement of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination, including their right to establish their own state. Third: the right of all states in the area to live in peace within their boundaries, which will be secure and guaranteed through procedures to be agreed upon... Fourth: commitment of all states in the region to administer the relations among them in accordance with the objectives and principles of the United Nations Charter... Fifth: ending the state of belligerency in the region.
1967
The goal is to bring security to the peoples of the area, and the Palestinians in particular, restoring to them all their right to a life of liberty and dignity… This is what I stand for.
Today I tell you, and I declare it to the whole world, that we accept to live with you in permanent peace based on justice. We do not want to encircle you or be encircled ourselves by destructive missiles ready for launching, nor by the shells of grudges and hatreds.
Russians can give you arms, but only the United States can give you a solution.
Artifacts (15)
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