Secretary of State Cyrus Vance said today on the first anniversary of the signing of the Camp David agreements that the “commitments made one year ago are being carried out scrupulously.” He said, in a prepared statement issued at the State Department, that “the world can see the practical results that have been achieved” and that as the Egyptian-Israeli relations “mature it will demonstrate that agreement will be kept.”
Vance noted also that “it will show not only that peace can be achieved but that it can last.” He said that “for the first time in the more than 30-year-old Israeli-Arab conflict, a mechanism exists for beginning to resolve the issues of concerns to the Palestinians” and that the current negotiations “to provide the fall autonomy for the inhabitants of the West Bank and Gaza are gaining momentum.”
The Secretary called on “all who seek and cherish peace to join with us” all who seek and cherish peace to join with us” to “build on the solid foundation laid at Camp David.” The Camp David accords were signed at the White House one year ago today by President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, Premier Menachem Begin of Israel with President Carter as a witness.
Vance’s statement was issued prior to a ceremony at the White House marking the first anniversary of the Camp David accords. President Carter, Vance and National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski represented the U.S. at the ceremony. Israel was represented by Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan and Defense Minister Ezer Weizman and Egypt by Vice President Hosni Mubarak and Defense Minister Kamal Hassan Ali.
The officials are to begin a round of talks tomorrow that will include, among items, the peacekeeping force in Sinai after the Israelis withdraw from the area. The State Department indicated that the U.S. will have a full share in the decision on whether joint Israeli-Egyptian patrols will monitor the area after Israel evacuates.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
