Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter and Anwar Sadat at Camp David, 1978. File photo by Bill Fitz-Patrick, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
1978Nobel Prizes
Menachem Begin shares the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating peace with Egypt.
The 1978 prize goes jointly to Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat, after talks at Camp David hosted by US President Jimmy Carter.
The story in numbers.
13
days of talks at Camp David
2
framework documents came out of it
12
of the prize to each leader
SourceNobelPrize.org
Here is how it happened.
5 to 17 September 1978
Three leaders negotiate at Camp David for almost two weeks.
US President Jimmy Carter hosts Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin at the presidential retreat in Maryland. When the three-way format fails, he meets the two delegations separately.
September 1978
The summit produces two framework documents.
They set out the principles of a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. The three leaders sign the Camp David Accords.
1978
The Nobel Peace Prize goes jointly to Sadat and Begin.
It is awarded “for jointly having negotiated peace between Egypt and Israel in 1978”. Each receives half.
SourceNobelPrize.org
Carter, Sadat and Begin at the peace treaty signing, 26 March 1979. File photo by Central Intelligence Agency from Washington, D.C., public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
26 March 1979
Egypt and Israel sign their peace treaty.
More rounds of talks follow, including a visit by Carter to Israel in March. The treaty is signed on 26 March 1979.
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Here is why it matters.
The Camp David talks gave Israel and Egypt a framework for peace, and a treaty followed in March 1979. The prize honoured both leaders for the negotiations.
Three more milestones to read next.
Yitzhak Rabin receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, 1994. File photo by Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
1994
Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres share the Nobel Peace Prize.
Read the story
Golda Meir in 1973. File photo by Marion S. Trikosko, edited by Talmoryair, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
1969
Golda Meir becomes Israel's first woman Prime Minister.
Read the story
David Ben-Gurion reading the Declaration of Independence, 14 May 1948. File photo by Rudi Weissenstein, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
1948
The Declaration of Independence promises equal rights to all.
Read the story
Where each fact was read.
Sources read on 1 November 2026.