Other than terrorists, if you wanted to bet on a short list of people who are not popular in Israel, you would be very safe adding Jimmy Carter’s name to that list.
On Monday, Israel’s Prime Minister and President both refused a request to meet with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter during his next visit to Israel.
Jimmy Carter had not just done something anti-Israel recently, it was just what he has always done.
A senior Israeli official in Jerusalem, speaking to Haaretz, said Benjamin Netanyahu and Reuven Rivlin both consulted with the Foreign Ministry and the National Security Council before rejecting his request.
The rumor is that the Foreign Ministry recommended the snub because of Carter’s “anti-Israel stance” in recent years. That may include his position and words on the Gaza uprising last summer. He had strongly criticized Israel and called for the U.S. State Department to remove Hamas from its list of terrorist organizations.
If that was all, it could be reason enough, but Carter doubled down on his 2006 book entitled “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” If anything can get up Israel’s nose it is referring to Israel as an Apartheid state. That ridiculous book title outraged Israelis and also wound up Jewish leaders in the USA.
Carter has supported Palestinians ahead of Israel for many years. Some of us can still remember the peace accords between Egypt and Israel during Carter’s tenure.
Carter’s book argued that Israel’s continued control of Palestinian land has been the primary obstacle to a comprehensive peace agreement in the Middle East. He also said in an interview with Israel Radio that Israeli policy in the West Bank represented instances of apartheid worse than South Africa.
Carter was also snubbed in 2008 because of his plans to meet top Hamas leader in Syria.
Israel’s secret service declined to assist U.S. agents guarding Carter during his visit.
