WATCH THE VOLATILE MIDDLE EAST - Raymond F McNair - August 1979

Raymond F McNair

Has peace finally come to the Middle East? Will the peace treaty signed last March by Israel and Egypt bring an end to decades of Mideast hostility? Or will it simply provide a short respite-a lull before the storm? Where are Mideast events leading? Can we know what lies ahead in this foremost of trouble spots? After confronting each other in a state of war for nearly 31 years, Egypt and Israel signed a formal treaty at the White House last March 26 to establish peace and open "normal and friendly relations." As millions looked on via television, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachern Begin of Israel put their signatures on the Arabic, Hebrew and English versions of the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country. President Carter, signing as a witness for the United States, declared: "Peace has come," adding that "we have won, at last, the first step of peace - a first step on a long and difficult road." - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library