October 27, 1978

Nobel Peace Prize

Sadat and Begin are named joint 1978 Nobel Peace Prize laureates

The man who had spent thirteen days mediating the agreement did not share the prize: nobody had nominated him before the deadline.

Announced in Oslo, 27 October 1978

The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on 27 October 1978 that Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin would jointly receive that year’s Nobel Peace Prize, one-half each.

The stated reason was that the two had jointly negotiated peace between Egypt and Israel during 1978. The committee described the award as both recognition of past actions and encouragement toward practical peace arrangements still to come.

There was no treaty yet

What existed on 27 October were two framework agreements, signed on 17 September after thirteen days of talks at Camp David, 5–17 September. The first was the broad Framework for Peace in the Middle East, including provisions on the West Bank and Gaza; the second was the Framework for the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel.

The Egypt–Israel peace treaty itself was not signed until 26 March 1979. Delegations were still negotiating when the laureates were named.

Carter congratulated from outside the prize

President Jimmy Carter, who had hosted and mediated the summit, issued same-day congratulations while stressing that the work remained unfinished.

He was ineligible rather than passed over: he had not been nominated before nominations closed, and the committee later disclosed that adding him in September was impossible under its statutes.

The announcement was also not the ceremony — the medal and diploma were presented in Oslo on 10 December.

Sources

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What the sources leave uncertain

October 27 was the announcement and selection date, not the award ceremony; the prize was formally presented in Oslo on December 10.
On October 27 no Egypt–Israel peace treaty yet existed. The treaty was signed on March 26, 1979.
The Nobel Committee later disclosed that it wanted to include Carter, but he had not been nominated by the February deadline or at the committee’s first meeting, making his addition in September impossible under the statutes.