Anwar Sadat

Sadat's 1977 visit to Jerusalem and the 1979 peace treaty with Israel got Egypt the Sinai back but cost it its place in the Arab League, which suspended Egypt for a decade, and made him a target at home. He was assassinated by Islamist army officers in 1981. The treaty has held for more than forty years through wars in Lebanon and Gaza, and it underpins large American aid to Egypt. Critics argue his opening also came with growing repression and an economy that benefited a narrow elite.