Sadat
| Sadat was elected by opposing political factions as a compromise candidate, on the assumption that he could be manipulated. The new president, however, outwitted his would-be puppeteers and, with the support of the army, put them under arrest. He freed political prisoners who had been incarcerated by Nasser for opposing his policies, and called for a regime of economic and political liberalization, especially for the press, which Nasser had strictly controlled. |
| The War of 1973 Skirmishes between Egypt and Israel had continued after 1969, and this “war of attrition” had resulted in high Egyptian casualties and burdensome military expenditures. Sadat tried to find a way out of that impasse by negotiation. Unsuccessful, he secretly planned another round against Israel. He first repaired his fences with the Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, which financed arms purchases from the Soviet Union. Then, on October 6, 1973, on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur and during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Egypt launched an air and artillery assault across the Suez Canal. Within hours, thousands of Egyptian soldiers had successfully crossed into the Sinai. Protected by a missile umbrella that destroyed Israeli aircraft, they overran and captured the string of Israeli fortifications known as the Bar-Lev line. Israel was caught unprepared. By the middle of the month, however, it had regained the initiative and was able to encircle Egyptian units on the outskirts of Suez. The United Nations then imposed a cease-fire, and an armistice line patrolled by UN forces was eventually established between the Egyptian and the Israeli armies. |
Egypt Under Mubarak
| Sadat was succeeded by Vice President Hosni Mubarak. While adhering to the Camp David accords, Mubarak sought political liberalization within Egypt as well as improved relations with other Arab states. Israel completed its withdrawal from the Sinai on April 25, 1982. In January 1984 Egypt accepted an invitation to rejoin the 42-member Islamic Conference. That April, in Egypt’s first parliamentary elections under Mubarak, the ruling National Democratic Party captured 87 percent of the vote. After a national referendum in February 1987 authorized the dissolution of the People’s Assembly, new elections were held in April. Although the National Democratic Party won 338 of 448 seats, the Muslim Brotherhood showed increased strength. President Mubarak was reelected in a referendum in October 1987. After Egypt took part in the U.S.-led coalition that defeated Iraq in the Persian Gulf War of 1991, about half of its $20.2-billion debt to the allies was forgiven, and the rest was rescheduled. |