Foreign Relations of the United States

The focus of this volume is the Carter administration's efforts to help negotiate settlements to the Arab-Israeli dispute. The volume begins in January 1977, and documents the administration's immediate efforts to find a comprehensive settlement between Israel and Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon, and to seek a resolution for Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza. The first part of the volume documents the administration's initiatives to reconvene the Geneva Conference, which was first established in December 1973 to find a comprehensive settlement to the Arab-Israeli dispute. After talks with the various parties stagnated and Anwar Sadat made his momentous visit to Jerusalem in November 1977, the administration came to view a bilateral negotiation between Egypt and Israel as the most realistic avenue to an eventual settlement. Accordingly, the portion of the volume covering the period from December 1977 to August 1978 documents the ways in which the administration worked to find a path to a bilateral peace agreement that would also include limited self-rule for Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza. The volume concludes with the White House announcement of a summit to be held at Camp David, Maryland in September 1978, where U.S. officials would work in seclusion with Egyptian and Israeli officials in an attempt to produce an agreement. As this primary source reference work documents, President Carter prioritized a negotiated settlement between Israel and its Arab neighbors from the very start of his administration. He also played a central role in the negotiations, rather than leaving the bulk of it to his Secretary of State, National Security Adviser, or a special envoy. Accordingly, documents selected for this volume reflect this unprecedented Presidential involvement in seeking a negotiated settlement to the Arab-Israeli dispute. Carter's prominent role is highlighted in the memoranda of conversation that feature his discussions with Israeli and Arab leaders. Through the record of these conversations, especially the verbatim versions, he and other leaders exhibited their distinctive negotiating styles as well as their personal rapport with each other. In addition to Carter's memoranda of conversation, this volume includes documentation on many of Secretary of State (Cyrus) Vance's meetings with Arab and Israeli leaders. Vance played a major role in laying the groundwork for Carter's Middle East policy.