There were no ceremonies this year: none in Jerusalem, none in Cairo, and none in Washington. There were no commemorations, no speeches, and not even a symbolic gesture to mark the 46th anniversary of the Camp David Accords, signed at the White House this week in 1979.
What was once hailed as a historic breakthrough in Middle East diplomacy – a peace agreement that changed the course of the Arab-Israeli conflict – passed without notice, buried under political tension and indifference.
The question is: How did we get here? How did a peace deal that once demonstrated that reconciliation between Israel and its neighbors was possible become so irrelevant that not even a phone call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or President Isaac Herzog and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was reported? There were no public acknowledgments in Israel and certainly nothing in Egypt.
Instead of celebrations, what we have is tension. The IDF has been on heightened alert along the Egyptian border ever since relations began to sour in May when Israel launched a ground offensive into southern Gaza.
As part of the operation, Israeli forces took control of the Philadelphi Corridor, the eight-mile strip of land that separates the Gaza Strip from Egypt. The move sparked alarm in Cairo, prompting Egypt to reinforce its own military presence in the Sinai Peninsula.
Since then, the relationship has continued to deteriorate. On Thursday, the Qatari news outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported that Egypt was refusing to accredit Israel’s newly appointed ambassador, Ori Rotman.
Egyptian officials cited Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza and the Netanyahu government’s support for displacement plans of Palestinians as justification for postponing Rotman’s presentation of credentials.
This diplomatic freeze isn’t occurring in a vacuum. A recent study by the Glazer Foundation Information and Consulting Center at the Jewish People Policy Institute sheds light on a deeper shift in public sentiment.
The analysis reviewed thousands of opinion pieces published in two of Egypt’s most influential newspapers: Al-Ahram, the country’s most widely read paper, and Al-Gomhuria, a state-owned publication once edited by none other than Anwar Sadat, the late president and signatory of the Camp David peace deal.
What are the findings?
The findings are sobering. Of the articles that mentioned Israel, over 85% were negative, with many veering into outright antisemitism. These weren’t simply political critiques; some employed classic antisemitic tropes: claims about Jews loving money, being disloyal, or Judaism being a “fake” religion founded on myths.
It’s hard to imagine a greater departure from the spirit of Sadat and Menachem Begin, who stood side-by-side with then-president Jimmy Carter in 1979 to declare that peace was not only necessary but achievable.
That declaration of peace was anything but inevitable. When Sadat made his historic visit to Jerusalem, there were Israeli military officers, including the IDF chief of staff, who genuinely feared it was a trap.
Some believed that when the airplane door opened, armed men would emerge firing into the crowd. The level of suspicion and trauma from previous wars was that deep. And yet, despite it all, the visit took place. A handshake was exchanged. And peace, however imperfect, was established.
THE AGREEMENT changed the trajectory of the region. It proved that diplomacy could replace war, that Israel could have formal relations with an Arab state – the biggest one, in fact – and that coexistence, while not always warm, was possible.
But today, that peace feels like a relic. Mistakes were made on both sides. While political leaders signed treaties and security officials built a framework of cooperation against mutual threats, the peace never trickled down to the people. Public diplomacy was neglected.
Educational initiatives to foster mutual understanding never took place. The result is a peace that has long been cold on the Egyptian street – and increasingly so within the Egyptian government itself.
This stands in stark contrast to the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements Israel signed with the United Arab Emirates and other Arab states in 2020. Despite differences over the ongoing war in Gaza, those relationships remain surprisingly resilient.
Emirati airlines, for example, have continued flying to Israel throughout the conflict, while most Western carriers only recently resumed limited service. People-to-people ties, business partnerships, and intergovernmental cooperation are warm and alive.
Can Israel and Egypt rebuild what was lost?
The question now is whether Israel and Egypt can rebuild what has eroded. The task will not be easy. Trust has been frayed, and the war in Gaza continues to cast a long shadow. But it is vital for both nations to recognize the strategic, economic, and regional benefits of sustaining their relationship. The alternative – a return to hostility – is far worse.
Critically missing in this equation is strong American involvement. At the time of Camp David, the US played an instrumental role in facilitating dialogue and brokering the agreement.
Today, that level of engagement is absent. Sisi has refused to travel to Washington to meet with US President Donald Trump, and special envoy Steve Witkoff recently warned of a potential “bad event” in Egypt that “could take us back,” only further irritating Cairo.
This is a moment that demands high-level diplomacy. The US secretary of state, national security advisor, or Witkoff himself should be shuttling between Cairo, Jerusalem, and Washington, working to prevent a further unraveling of one of the most important peace treaties in modern Middle East history.
The Camp David Accords once proved that even the bitterest of enemies could sit at the same table. Let’s not allow that lesson to be forgotten.