Here in Israel the peace Israel has maintained with Egypt for forty years now is an old peace, not completely worn out, but fatigued.
After forty years of peace between Egypt and Israel, is the peace still a worthwhile venture in terms of being mutually beneficial for both parties? Does this peace provide any sort of platform for a peace between Israel and the Palestinians? A reference to Odysseus, a hero returning to his people, a legendary man who has endured long drawn-out battles, one who has come home somewhat discomforted being battle weary, does not find this one-time refuge at peace unto itself. Is this the state of affairs most applicable to the forty-year-old treaty being celebrated applicable to President Anwar Sadat's visit some forty years ago? Do President Sadat's words still ring true on this the very date that he spoke them before the Israeli Knesset in 1977? Please read the exact words in translation for yourselves and you decide what relevance they still play in today's relationship between Israel and Egypt: <https://sadat.umd.edu/sites/sadat.umd.edu/files/President%20Sadat%E2%80%99s%20Speech%20to%20the%20Knesset.compressed.pdf>.
Haim Guri's poem "Odysseus" seems a fitting allusion to the hero that represents Israel, a tiny nation standing shoulder to shoulder with its enormous peace partner for nigh unto forty years in the history of the still young state 57% of its 70-year existence as a sovereign country still vibrant and dynamic among contemporary nations.
The Guri poem found here in both the origical Hebrew and translation is a testament to the valor of a fledgling state whose primary purpose is to live in peace with its neighbors in addition to help usher in peace to all of humankind.<https://poemsintranslation.blogspot.co.il/2012/05/haim-gouri-odysseus-from-hebrew.html>.
A close-up perspective on what the Israeli people--Jews and Arabs--think about this momentous occasion today can be read in the following article by Efraim Karsh of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies: <https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/israeli-attitudes-egypt/>.