CULTURAL ASPECTS OF NEGOTIATION BETWEEN ISRAEL AND EGYPT LEADING TO CAMP DAVID ACCORDS 1979

Abstract

This article explores the cultural, intercultural, and interpersonal dimensions that shaped the negotiations between Israel and Egypt leading to the 1979 Camp David Accords. Drawing on theoretical frameworks in interculturalism, leadership studies, communication theory, and negotiation analysis, as well as firsthand accounts from actors involved, this study examines how cultural perceptions, religious symbolism, linguistic practices, and interpersonal relationships influenced the peace process. The study argues that while cultural and religious factors were not the direct causes of peace, they played an important enabling role, facilitating dialogue, reducing psychological distance, and helping negotiators humanize one another. Through a thematic and interpretive approach, the article situates the peace process within broader developments in Middle Eastern intercultural dynamics, including the later trajectory culminating in the Abraham Accords. It concludes that the Israel–Egypt peace negotiations demonstrate how intercultural competence, leadership vision, and personal diplomacy can reshape entrenched conflicts, creating new paradigms of regional coexistence.