How did the negotiations with the Israeli government differ now from then?
In Camp David we were prisoners actually. Nobody could get in, and we could not get in touch with people outside. They were very difficult days with difficult sessions with the Israelis. But here again, there was US President Jimmy Carter, a man who had managed to establish good relations with President Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Throughout the very difficult negotiations, Carter personally did a lot of the drafting, which is very unusual for a president to do — he had his yellow pad and was writing in it during the negotiations time. It was an experiment that is not to be repeated.In the end, the agreement reached was based on what I shall call a misunderstanding. Mr. Begin thought that he was giving Sadat Sinai in return for the disengagement of Egypt from the problems of the rest of the Arab world. President Sadat thought that the solution between Egypt and Israel would be the first step towards a comprehensive solution that restores the rights to all the Arabs
