Sadat's rising star on the Arab sky, dropped to the ground in 1977, when he surprised the world by visiting Israel. This visit was to a large degree motivated by the economical problems after many wars with Israel. In Israel, Sadat spoke with prime minister Menachim Begin, and gave a speech in the national assembly of Israel, the Knesset. The result of the talks that started here, was the so-called Camp David agreement, officially signed on March 26, 1979. The treaty was in two parts: Israel should give up land taken from Egypt in exchange for peace. The other part, that should secure the establishment of a Palestinian state and no more building of settlements on the occupied territories, was never fulfilled from Israeli side.
While the international society rewarded him with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978 (together with Menachim Begin), the treaty with Israel isolated Egypt in the Arab world, and strong opposition was expressed from the Islamists. In September 1981, Sadat gave the order to round up 1,600 dissidents, Islamists and Communists. One month later, on October 6, he was shot by three soldiers under a military parade in Cairo.
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