Egypt, Israel and the West in the Wake of the Arab Spring

The Camp David Accords signed in 1979 by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin are often cited as a watershed event in the modern history of Israeli-Arab relations. The accords initiated an era of cold, yet stable peace between the former adversaries which can broadly be described as little more than the absence of war. In 2011, over three decades later, the future of Israeli-Egyptian relations is unknown. Following the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak as a result of a popular uprising and the rise of Egypt’s Islamist parties, those hoping for quiet on the Israel-Egypt border are increasingly concerned.