History Book: Israel and Egypt make a truce 50 years ago

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Monday, January 15th, 2024. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next, the WORLD History Book. 50 years ago this week, Egypt and Israel declare a truce after the Yom Kippur war.

EICHER: But first, 420 years ago today, a group of English Puritans meet with King James the First—pleading for reform within the Church of England…Here’s WORLD Radio Executive Producer Paul Butler.

PAUL BUTLER: Over five days in January, 1604, England’s recently crowned King—James the First—holds a religious conference at the palace of Hampton Court. It is an attempt to unify divided parties within the Church of England. Anglican bishops on one side—known as the conformists…and reform-minded Puritans on the other—non-conformists. The bishops and Puritans are at Hampton Court because James the First is not only the new head of England, but also the head of the English church.

Historian Brett Dolman:

DOLMAN: James is keen on discussion. But he's also keen that we don't get into the area where we are talking about reform of the church hierarchies.

James became king of Scotland as an infant. Born a Catholic, he was raised in the Protestant Church of Scotland familiar with Presbyterianism and Puritanism. He became king of England at age 35 after the death of his aunt, Queen Elizabeth the First. Shortly after, a group of Puritan leaders delivered the Millenary Petition to him claiming 1000 Puritan ministers had signed it.

The document outlines their grievances against the Church of England, including: confirmation, the sign of the cross during baptism, kneeling for communion, religious vestments, and a handful of other practices not taught in the scriptures. They also want a stricter observance of the Sabbath, higher quality clergy, and more accountability for bishops.

The Puritans believed as an outsider, King James provided them the perfect opportunity to initiate the changes they’d been preaching for decades. But James was about to surprise them.

During the first day of the conference, the King meets with the bishops alone to go over the Puritan’s complaints. The Puritans are in the building, but aren’t allowed into the king’s chambers. The Bishops sit at the king's side…James favors the conformists.

On the second day of the conference—held on January 16th, 1604—King James calls the Puritans before him. They sit on a simple bench facing the king with two of the bishops also in attendance. James peppers them with questions.

Lucy Worsley is chief curator at Hampton Court.

WORSLEY: He's a clever man. He's dividing and ruling. He's stirring things up. And if he doesn't like what somebody says he'll just toss off some really crude insults.

James is prepared to make a few minor concessions, but after five hours of conversation, it’s clear that he is going to maintain the status quo within the church. He believes in the divine right of kings and is unwilling to institute broad reforms. James says more than once that if there’s no bishop, there’s no king…

But not all is lost. The main Puritan spokesman—John Rainolds—suggests to the king “there might be a new translation of the Bible, as consonant as can be to the original Hebrew and Greek.” This suits King James as very few at the time like the poorly translated Bishop's Bible at use in the Church of England. And King James distrusts the most popular alternative…the Geneva Bible.

Historian Lori Anne Ferrell:

FERRELL: What he probably doesn't like is the characterization, especially in the Old Testament of Kings as tyrants.

So James sees an opportunity to bring the two sides together by having them cooperate on a new translation. Once again, Brett Dolman:

DOLMAN: James understands that a new authorized version of the Bible will add to his own supremacy and back up his view of what the Church of England should be.

The king sets ground rules for the translation work—greatly limiting the influence of the Puritans. He prohibits most marginal notes and mandates keeping traditional ecclesiological titles. More than 40 scholars work for nearly seven years to produce the king’s authorized version of the Bible.

It does not immediately bear the king’s name…it’s not until about 200 years later that the authorized version becomes known as The King James Bible.

Our second and final story today comes from 50 years ago. President Richard Nixon addresses the nation:

NIXON: The governments of Egypt and Israel—with the assistance of the government of the United States—have reached agreement on the disengagement and separation of their military forces.

The 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Yom Kippur War had officially come to an end a couple of months earlier…but armed conflict continued between the parties. Richard Nixon is distracted with his own conflict as he’s fighting the Watergate investigation. So the possibility of peace in the Middle East is a welcome bit of news for the embroiled president.

Nixon sends US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to the region to personally negotiate an end to hostilities. For days Kissinger traveled back and forth between various capitals, leading to the phrase: “shuttle diplomacy.” Egypt agrees Israel to use the Suez Canal for shipping, as well as committing to rebuild destroyed villages along the canal - which Israel hopes will discourage them from re-starting the war.

And that all leads to the disengagement treaty that Egypt and Israel sign on January 18th, 1974.

NIXON: The agreement is scheduled to be signed by the Chiefs of Staff of Egypt and Israel at noon…at kilometer 101, on the Cairo-Suez road.

Israel controls much of the Sinai peninsula, but the agreement sets clear boundaries and permits both nations to maintain its military without interference - with a U.N.-controlled buffer zone between. Both nations agree the treaty is only the first step toward peace. President Nixon is hopeful:

NIXON: In the past generation, there have been, as we know, four wars in the Middle East, followed by uneasy truces. This, I would say, is the first significant step toward a permanent peace in the Mideast.

Within a few weeks, the Nixon administration’s Middle East diplomacy will be overshadowed by Nixon’s impeachment investigation.

But five years later, Mideast peace makes headlines once again as leaders from Egypt and Israel join US President Jimmy Carter at Camp David, signing a peace treaty. That agreement includes Israel giving the Sinai peninsula back to Egypt—normalizing relations between the two nations. That peace treaty still holds today.

The interview clips for our first story all came from a 2011 BBC documentary on the King James Bible hosted by Adam Nicolson.

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m Paul Butler.

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