As the conflict in Gaza mounts, and hopes for ceasefire, let alone peace, seem to fade into the fog of war, my thoughts took me today back to Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian president who, against all odds, made Egypt the first Arab country to officially sign a peace treaty with Israel.

I was but a teenager when Sadat announced he will be visiting Israel. I remember the tension. Some conspiracy theorists in Israel predicted that the door of the Egyptian Presidential airplane will open, and instead of Sadat, a group of terrorists will burst out, shooting at the top Israeli leaders who were awaiting to greet the honorable enemy, turned into a friendly guest. That, of course, didn’t happen. But what I was thinking about today was what must have gone in Sadat’s head. He was an Arab leader who waged an almost successful war against the Jewish state (the…