assassination of Anwar Sadat

On 6 October 1981, Anwar Sadat, the president of Egypt, was assassinated during the annual victory parade held in Cairo to celebrate the victory over Israel in the Yom Kippur War, during which the Egyptian Army had crossed the Suez Canal at the beginning of the war. The assassination was undertaken by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Although the motive has been debated, Sadat's assassination likely stemmed from Islamic nationalists, anti-imperialists, and pro-Palestinian groups opposed to Sadat's peace initiative with Israel and the United States relating to the Camp David Accords.