Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel when he met with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Their initiative resulted in the 1979 Camp David Peace Accord between Egypt and Israel, extremely unpopular in the Arab and Muslim World. The Arab League suspended Egypt’s membership, moving its headquarters from Cairo to Tunis.
On October 6, 1981, a month after his widespread crackdown on Muslim organizations, Sadat was assassinated during a parade in Cairo. The assassins were army officers who were part of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood that was opposed to his negotiations with Israel. A fatwa approving the assassination had been obtained from Omar Abdel-Rahman, a cleric later convicted in the U.S. for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
As air force jets flew overhead distracting the crowd, a troop truck halted before the presidential reviewing stand, and a lieutenant strode forward. Sadat stood to receive his salute, whereupon the killers rose from the truck, throwing grenades and firing assault rifle rounds. One assassin, Khalid Islambouli, shouted, “Death to the Pharaoh!” as he ran toward the stand and fired into Sadat’s lifeless body.