Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin (Modern Peacemakers)

The 1978 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt, and Menachem Begin, prime minister of Israel, for their contributions to the Camp David Accords. These accords comprised two frame agreements on peace in the Middle East, and on peace between Egypt and Israel. The choice of these laureates, according to the Nobel Committee, was notable because never before had they considered it fitting ""to award the Peace Prize to statesmen from the troubled and sadly devastated Middle East."" A hotbed of conflict throughout history, the Middle East saw a significant increase in strife after the establishment of Israel as an independent state in 1948. As leaders of their respective countries, Sadat and Begin were both hated and revered for their efforts to create a lasting peace in the region. Sadly, the consequence of such efforts led to Sadat's assassination by Muslim fundamentalists three years after becoming a Nobel laureate. ""Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin"" describes each laureate's rise to power and the challenges they faced on the road to becoming modern peacemakers.