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Carter in the Middle East

US and Israel oppose Carter's Middle East tour

Article published on the 2008-04-18 Latest update 2008-04-18 14:04 TU

Khaled Meshaal

Khaled Meshaal

Jimmy Carter's announcement that he might meet senior Hamas figures, including exiled political chief Khaled Meshaal, provoked controversy in the US and Israel. The US State Department advised in late March against meeting the Palestinian group, which won 74 of the 132 seats in the region's 2006 election.

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The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice said late last week that she didn't believe such a meeting was useful, describing Hamas as "the principle obstacle to peace".

Democrat presidential nomination candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama made similar declarations. Obama said he would not meet Hamas "given that it is a terrorist organisation" and said he did not believe conversations with them would be "fruitful". His opponent, Hillary Clinton, said she disagreed with Carter's decision.

Israel joined the chorus of criticism. The Israeli Minister of Defense, Amos Gilad, said such a meeting would be "all the more shameful" given that Carter "symbolised peace"; Carter helped broker the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace deal and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Gilad said that Hamas' objective of destroying Israel had not changed.

Israel then refused to help the American team that was to escort Carter. He was met nonetheless by Israeli President Shimon Peres but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other leading politicians would not meet him. The refusal of Shin Bet, Israel's security service, to cooperate with the American contingent was described as "unprecedented" by an American source.

Visiting the Israeli town of Sderot earlier this week, Carter vigorously criticised rocket attacks on the town. He was not, however, able to go to Gaza, explaining that his request for access had been turned down by the Israeli authorities.

Carter responded to this criticism by saying that it was important that someone met with Hamas so as to ascertain their views, to discourage attacks on "innocent Israeli civilians" and to encourage them to cooperate with Fatah.