Sadat

Egyptian policy is personified by President Sadat. His predecessor. Nasser sought Arab unity against foreign control and was an implacable foe of Zionism. Sadat, previously sensitive to similar Egyptian sentiment had sent troops into Sinai in 1973, had declared never to negotiate a peace until after the Israelis withdrew from Egyptian territory and never to sign a separate treaty.

Conversely, his war effort was never meant very seriously and he had been seeking an accommodation with Israel ever since 1971 when he was rebuffed by Golda Meir. He too had something to fear from a Geneva conference. Sadat stands to gain his share of US spoils as well besides the conditional return of the Sinai peninsular, lost to Israel in the 1967 war.