CAIRO, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- The Egyptian government plans no events to commemorate the upcoming 30th anniversary of President Anwar Sadat’s historic visit to Israel, say analysts.
“I’m amazed,” Ahmed Abushadi, a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, told United Press International. “It should be a major occasion.”
On Nov. 9, 1977, Sadat told the Egyptian Parliament he would be willing to visit Israel, and following an invitation from Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, he arrived in Jerusalem 10 days later, addressing the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, on Nov. 20.
The visit marked the start of negotiations that ended in 1979 with Egypt becoming the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel.
The visit was widely opposed at the time by other Arab leaders and was also unpopular in Egypt. Many attribute Sadat’s assassination in 1981 at least in part to anger over his role in making peace with the Jewish state -- for which he shared the Nobel Prize with Begin.
The visit remains controversial even today, and another analyst told UPI this is why the government is ignoring the anniversary.
“They are in the midst of their convention right now,” said Anissa Hassouna, also of the Egyptian Council on Foreign Affairs, referring to the ruling National Democratic Party. “They are hoping it all goes smoothly and they do not want distractions.”
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Shaun Waterman, UPI Homeland and National Security Editor
