On March 26, 1979, the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty was signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.In 1977, the Labor Party lost control of the Knesset to Menachem Begin and the Likud Party. Begin announced an invitation to negotiate with the leaders of all of the Arab countries; Sadat’s decision to accept the invitation surprised Israelis and Arabs alike, including Yasser Arafat, Sadat’s ally and chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.On November 19, 1977, Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel. He spoke about peace in a public televised speech in the Knesset. Eventually, Begin and Sadat agreed to return the Sinai to Egypt in exchange for Egyptian neutrality with regard to Palestinians in the West Bank. Many in the Arab world, particularly the Palestinians, felt betrayed by Sadat's decision. They felt he had sold out for Egyptian national gain. Still, the peace agreement helped to normalize relations and de-escalate the conflict. Both leaders were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978, and in 1979, they met at the White House to sign the peace treaty. Implementation of the agreement, however, was not easy, as it received hostility from both the Israelis, who had to be forcefully evicted from the Sinai, and the Egyptians. An Egyptian soldier killed Anwar Sadat during a military parade in October 1981, just two years after the peace agreements were reached. Meanwhile, Egypt was briefly expelled from the Arab League. Nevertheless, the peace that Sadat and Begin negotiated has remained intact since then. The Egyptian and Israeli governments’ maintain peaceful relations to this day. Egypt has been a mediator for negotiations between Israel and Palestinian officials, and Egyptian and Israeli forces have coordinated to fight the terrorist organization, ISIS, and other terror threats in the Sinai Peninsula. The Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty paved the way for the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty in 1994, and the Abraham Accords in 2020.