___. EDITORS: As part of its coverage of the death of former President Jimmy Carter, The Associated Press is looking back at major events in his life. Carter's success at Camp David negotiating a Mideast Peace agreement between Egypt and Israel was one of his crowning achievements. AP Diplomatic Writer Barry Schweid covered Carter's announcement in this Sept. 17, 1978, story.
—-. President Carter announced to the world Sunday night that a “framework for peace” in the Middle East had been reached at his summit meeting with Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Menachem Begin. Flanked by President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin, he said documents signed by the two leaders “will provide that Israel may live in peace within secure borders.”.
The far-reaching accord commits Egypt and Israel to work to conclude a peace treaty within three months. The treaty would be the first formal recognition of the Jewish state by any of its Arab neighbors since the creation of Israel in 1948. Begin, in a friendly challenge to Sadat, urged that the treaty be concluded before three months elapse. Sadat applauded the overture and nodded in agreement.
Carter said Israel would withdraw its forces from the West Bank of the Jordan River. The agreement allows the Israelis to maintain a security presence in specified bases while ending its military rule of the territory, taken in the Six-Day War of 1967.
