You may remember that the Israelis had captured territories during the 1967 war, in particular the West Bank and Gaza. During the 1970s Israel continued to occupy these territories, something that some considered to be illegal.

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United Nations Resolution 242

This was made after the Six Day War. In the views of some made it compulsory for Israel to withdraw from the territories that it had occupied, though others argued that the Resolution’s wording on this matter was deliberately ambiguous. At the same time, Israel started to build Jewish settlements in these areas, such as the Ma’ale Adumim settlement, which was created in the West Bank in 1975. In 1977 the government stepped up its efforts to build settlements, creating new ones in Sinai in particular. Part of the motivation for the settlements was that, by there being Israeli communities in these occupied areas, it would be easier to make a legitimate claim that they belonged to Israel.

But the Arab world didn’t see it that way, and the question of the settlements would be one of the key issues that were discussed during the difficult international negotiations that took place during this period.