Netanyahu and Abbas are not Begin and Sadat

This week, on March 26, the State Archives released a series of secret documents to mark the 35th anniversary of the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. These documents provide a fascinating glimpse into the turbulent negotiations that preceded the agreement. They also offer a point of comparison for the current negotiations with the Palestinians, which are on the verge of breaking down. Especially noteworthy is the function of leadership and how leaders perceive their historic role on behalf of their respective nations.

When examining the dynamics of these negotiations between Israel and Egypt — with all their crises and high points — the only possible conclusion is that the current talks between Israel and the Palestinians will not end in a permanent agreement or even a framework agreement, for that matter.

The unrelenting American involvement is indeed an important point of similarity in both cases. But the two current prime players, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chairman of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, have nothing near the readiness, the courage and the true willpower to reach an agreement — something that characterized the dialogue between late Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who ultimately paid for it with his life.

In many ways, US Secretary of State John Kerry plays a tragic role in this saga. Like former President Jimmy Carter, who played a critical role in achieving the peace agreement with Egypt, Kerry, with the backing of President Barack Obama, considers a diplomatic agreement between Israel and the Palestinians to be one of the most important objectives of US foreign policy. Both then and now, there was total American involvement in the peace process, with the United States dedicating itself to the process, being prepared to provide its patronage to the talks and its guarantees to their results.