Israel Matzav

Four Israeli politicians to meet with Carter

Israel is allegedly 'outraged' at former US President Dhimmi Carter's planned meeting with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal in Damascus next week. The US State Department has urged Carter to cancel the meeting. So has Democratic Presidential front-runner Barack Hussein Obama. But that hasn't stopped Carter, and it isn't stopping four Israeli politicians from across the political spectrum from meeting with Carter here in Israel next week. The four are President Shimon Peres (okay, no surprise there), Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Shas leader Eli Yishai and (unbelievably) Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman.

The Israeli government and politicians sent mixed messages on Thursday regarding plans by former US president Jimmy Carter to meet with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Damascus next week.

On the one hand, senior Israeli diplomatic officials in Jerusalem said they were "outraged" at Carter's decision. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni have declined to meet with him when he visits Israel, citing "scheduling conflicts," while sources close to Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu said he was refusing to see Carter because of the Mashaal meeting. [Note that Olmert and Livni cannot bring themselves to say that they are declining to meet him because it's the wrong thing to do. CiJ]

But President Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Shas chairman Eli Yishai and Israel Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman have all agreed to meet with Carter.

The former president, who brokered the Camp David peace treaty with Egypt, has been persona non grata for many Israelis since he published his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, in late 2006.

Carter will arrive Sunday afternoon and meet with Peres that evening. On Monday, he will visit Sderot, meet with Barak and speak at an event sponsored by Ha'aretz's business Web site. On Tuesday he will convene with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. On Wednesday, he will meet with Yishai and Lieberman before traveling to Damascus to meet with Mashaal on Friday. [It's less than an hour flight from Tel Aviv to Damascus. I guess the Syrians want Carter fumigated from his trip to the 'Zionist entity' before he arrives in Damascus. CiJ].

The Atlanta-based Carter Center did not confirm the meeting with the exiled leader of Hamas, but a senior Hamas official in Syria, Muhammad Nazzal, told The Associated Press that Carter had sent an envoy to Damascus earlier, requesting a meeting with the Islamist group's officials, including Mashaal, and that Hamas "welcomed the request."

Meanwhile in Washington, the US State Department said it had advised Carter against meeting any representative of Hamas.

...

Peres's spokeswoman said he had accepted Carter's request to meet with him because of their shared past and because he respected the former president's role in advancing peace between Israel and Egypt. An Israeli diplomatic official said many European politicians and diplomats have gone to Damascus from Jerusalem. [Sorry, but those are lousy excuses, but expected coming from Peres. CiJ]

A source close to Yishai said he had agreed to meet with Carter specifically because of his meeting with Mashaal. Yishai intends to send messages to Hamas via Carter that he hopes will help bring home kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit.

"Yishai said he was ready to meet with Hamas leaders himself to help bring home Schalit, so he has no problem meeting with Carter," a Yishai associate said. "He thinks that it is better to confront people with abhorrent views than to avoid them." [Yishai's head is so swollen someone needs to stick a pin in it. Delusions of grandeur again. CiJ]

Lieberman said he intended to use the meeting with Carter to present his diplomatic plan for population exchanges. [WHAT? What on earth makes him think Carter will be interested in listening or that Carter has any say in anything in the United States? CiJ]

A source connected to Netanyahu said that if there had been a question about whether he would meet with Carter before his decision to meet with Mashaal, that decision killed any chances of a Carter-Netanyahu meeting.

Carter Center spokeswoman Deanna Congileo confirmed there was a planned trip by Carter to the Middle East, but could not confirm any specifics on eventual meetings or the itinerary.

Congileo said Carter would lead a study mission to Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan from April 13-21, as part of the Carter Center's ongoing effort to support "peace, democracy and human rights in the region."

As you've all probably figured out, I totally disagree with these glory-hungry Israeli politicians meeting with Carter. Carter is and should remain persona non grata in this country. Nobody to the right of MoveOn.org takes him seriously in the US and no one here should be listening to him. He is the root of much of the Islamist influence that is threatening the entire world today. He should be left to wallow in his stupidities, ignored and shunned by civilized society.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:54 AM