Ebeid returned to Egypt in the midst of nationalistic unrest, and began to involve himself in the Wafd party's struggle for independence led by Saad Zaghloul. The Wafd party called for a delegation, or wafd, to travel to the Peace Conference following the end of World War 1 seeking the means to acquire independence. This request was refused, and the Wafd party eventually turned into a political party following the Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence in 1922, soon beginning to campaign for internal autonomy, constitutional government, civil rights, and Egyptian control of both the Sudan and the Suez Canal. Zaghloul, impressed by Ebeid's intelligence and eloquence, declared him his political son and supporter, marking Ebeid's rise in the ranks of the Wafd party. During this time, Ebeid rejected his father's Protestantism and embraced Coptic Christianity. He was one of the signatories to the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936.
