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
Menachem Begin 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. Begin was elected to the first Knesset, as head of Herut, the party he founded, and was at first on the political fringe, embodying the opposition to the Mapai-led government and Israeli establishment. He remained in opposition in the eight consecutive elections (except for a national unity government around the Six-Day War), but became more acceptable to the political center. His 1977 electoral victory and premiership ended three decades of Labor Party political dominance. Begin’s most significant achievement as Prime Minister was the signing of a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, for which