Mostafa Khalil President Anwar Sadat on his historic first visit to Jerusalem, Israel, in November 1977 to meet with the Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin. Khalil was the secretary general of the Arab Socialist Union at the time. The visit by Sadat and Khalil paved the way for negotiations by United States President Jimmy Carter, which ultimately led to the Camp David Accords. Former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who served as the deputy prime minister for foreign affairs, and also travelled with Khalil and Sadat to Israel in 1977, has talked about the important role which Khalil played in
History of the Republic of Egypt 17 September 1978. The accords led to the 26 March 1979, signing of the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty, by which Egypt regained control of the Sinai in May 1982. Throughout this period, US–Egyptian relations steadily improved, and Egypt became one of America's largest recipients of foreign aid. Sadat's willingness to break ranks by making peace with Israel earned him the enmity of most other Arab states, however. In 1977, Egypt fought a short border war with Libya. Sadat used his immense popularity with the Egyptian people to try to push through vast economic reforms that ended the socialist controls of Nasserism.