Editing History of Israel (section)

===1977–1983: Begin===
{{Further|Camp David Accords|1978 South Lebanon conflict|1982 Lebanon War}}
{{See also-text|[[Eighteenth government of Israel|Eighteenth]]|[[Nineteenth government of Israel|Nineteenth]] governments of Israel}}
In a surprise result, the [[Likud]] led by [[Menachem Begin]] won 43 seats in the [[1977 Israeli legislative election|1977 elections]]. This was the first time in Israeli history that the government was not led by the left. In November 1977, Egyptian President [[Anwar Sadat]] visited Jerusalem and spoke at the [[Knesset]] at the invitation of Israeli Prime Minister [[Menachem Begin]]. Sadat recognized Israel's right to exist and established the basis for direct negotiations between Egypt and Israel. Following Sadat's visit, 350 Yom Kippur War veterans organized the [[Peace Now]] movement to encourage Israeli governments to make peace with the Arabs.

In March 1978, eleven armed Lebanese Palestinians reached Israel in boats and carried out the [[Coastal Road Massacre]] in opposition to the Egyptian–Israeli peace process. Three days later, Israeli forces crossed into Lebanon beginning [[Operation Litani]]. After passage of [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 425]], calling for Israeli withdrawal and the creation of the [[United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon]] (UNIFIL) peace-keeping force, Israel withdrew its troops.
[[File:Begin, Carter and Sadat at Camp David 1978.jpg|thumb|left|[[Menachem Begin]], [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Anwar Sadat]] celebrating the signing of the [[Camp David Accords]]]]
In September 1978, US President [[Jimmy Carter]] invited President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin to meet with him at [[Camp David]], and on 11 September they agreed on a [[Camp David Accords|framework]] for peace between Israel and Egypt, and a comprehensive peace in the Middle East. It set out broad principles to guide negotiations between Israel and the Arab states. It also established guidelines for a West Bank–Gaza transitional regime of full autonomy for the Palestinians residing in these territories, and for a [[Egypt–Israel peace treaty|peace treaty between Egypt and Israel]]. The treaty was signed 26 March 1979 by Begin and Sadat, with President Carter signing as witness. Under the treaty, Israel returned the Sinai peninsula to Egypt in April 1982. The [[Arab League]] reacted to the peace treaty by suspending Egypt from the organization and moving its headquarters from [[Cairo]] to [[Tunis]]. [[Anwar Sadat|Sadat]] was assassinated in 1981 by [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad|Islamic fundamentalist]] members of the Egyptian army who opposed peace with Israel. Following the agreement Israel and Egypt became the two largest [[United States foreign aid|recipients]] of [[United States Agency for International Development|US military and financial aid]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/124970.pdf |title=Foreign Aid: An Introduction to U.S. Programs and Policy |last1=Tarnoff |first1=Curt |last2=Lawson |first2=Marian Leonardo |date=9 April 2009 |work=CRS Reports |publisher=Congressional Research Service |access-date=5 December 2012 |archive-date=1 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301074802/http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/124970.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> (Iraq and Afghanistan have now [[Financial cost of the Iraq War|overtaken them]]).

In December 1978 the Israeli [[Merkava]] battle tank entered use with the IDF. In 1979, over 40,000 [[Iranian Jews]] migrated to Israel, escaping the [[Islamic Revolution]] there. On 30 June 1981, the Israeli air force destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor in [[Operation Opera]] that [[France]] was building for [[Iraq]]. Three weeks later, Begin won again, in the [[1981 Israeli legislative election|1981 elections]] (48 seats Likud, 47 Labour). [[Ariel Sharon]] was made defence minister. The new government [[Golan Heights Law|annexed the Golan Heights]] and banned the [[El Al|national airline]] from flying on [[Shabbat]].<ref name="shabbat">{{cite web | url=http://www.jewishgates.org/history/modhis/elal.stm | title=El-Al, Israel's Airline | publisher=Gates of Jewish Heritage |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010222124207/http://www.jewishgates.org/history/modhis/elal.stm |archive-date = 22 February 2001}}</ref> By the 1980s a diverse set of [[Science and technology in Israel|high-tech]] industries had [[Silicon Wadi|developed]] in Israel.

In the decades following the 1948 war, Israel's border with [[Lebanon]] was quiet compared to its borders with other neighbours. But the 1969 [[Cairo Agreement (1969)|Cairo agreement]] gave the PLO a free hand to [[Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon|attack]] Israel from South Lebanon. The area was governed by the PLO independently of the Lebanese Government and became known as "[[Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon|Fatahland]]" ([[Fatah]] was the largest faction in the PLO). Palestinian irregulars constantly [[Katyusha rocket launcher|shelled]] the Israeli north, especially the town of [[Kiryat Shmona]], which was a Likud stronghold inhabited primarily by Jews who had fled the Arab world. Lack of control over Palestinian areas was an important factor in causing [[Lebanese civil war|civil war in Lebanon]].

In June 1982, the attempted assassination of [[Shlomo Argov]], the ambassador to Britain, was used as a pretext for an Israeli invasion aiming to drive the PLO out of the southern half of Lebanon. Sharon agreed with [[Chief of General Staff (Israel)|Chief of Staff]] [[Raphael Eitan]] to expand the invasion deep into Lebanon even though the cabinet had only authorized a 40 kilometre deep invasion.<ref>''Israel's Lebanon War'' by [[Ze'ev Schiff]] and [[Ehud Ya'ari]], Touchstone 1985</ref> The invasion became known as the [[1982 Lebanon War]] and the Israeli army occupied [[Beirut]], the only time an Arab capital has been occupied by Israel. Some of the [[Shi'a Islam in Lebanon|Shia]] and [[Maronites|Christian]] population of [[South Lebanon]] welcomed the Israelis, as PLO forces had maltreated them, but Lebanese resentment of Israeli occupation grew over time and the [[Amal Movement|Shia]] became gradually [[Musa al-Sadr|radicalized]] under Iranian guidance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gloria-center.org/2000/09/eisenberg-2000-09-02/ |title=Do Good Fences Make Good Neighbors?: Israel and Lebanon after the Withdrawal |last=Eisenberg |first=Laura Zittrain |date=2 September 2000 |work=Middle East Review of International Affairs |publisher=Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center |access-date=5 December 2012 |archive-date=23 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623231419/http://www.gloria-center.org/2000/09/eisenberg-2000-09-02/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Constant casualties among Israeli soldiers and Lebanese civilians led to growing opposition to the war in Israel.

In August 1982, the PLO withdrew its forces from Lebanon (moving to [[Tunisia]]). [[Bashir Gemayel]] was elected President of Lebanon, and reportedly agreed to recognize Israel and sign a peace treaty. However, Gemayal was assassinated before an agreement could be signed, and one day later [[Kataeb Party|Phalangist]] Christian forces led by [[Elie Hobeika]] entered two Palestinian refugee camps and [[Sabra and Shatila massacre|massacred]] the occupants. The massacres led to the biggest [[anti-war protest|demonstration]] ever in Israel against the war, with as many as 400,000 people (almost 10% of the population) gathering in Tel Aviv. In 1983, an [[Kahan commission|Israeli public inquiry]] found that Israel's defence minister, Sharon, was indirectly but personally responsible for the massacres.<ref>{{cite news |title=Belgium opens way for Sharon trial |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2662635.stm |newspaper=BBC News |date=15 January 2003 |access-date=3 December 2012 |archive-date=3 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003175539/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2662635.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> It also recommended that he never again be allowed to hold the post (it did not forbid him from being Prime Minister). In 1983, the [[May 17 Agreement]] was signed between Israel and Lebanon, paving the way for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory through a few stages. Israel continued to operate against the PLO until its eventual departure in 1985, and kept a small force stationed in Southern Lebanon in support of the [[South Lebanon Army]] until May 2000.