Israel sent condolences Monday to the American people and the family of former President Jimmy Carter on his passing Sunday, choosing to emphasize his work for peace and to overlook his later false claims that the Jewish state practices “apartheid.”
Carter’s legacy in the region is mixed. He would win the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in peacemaking, yet he also paved the way for the Islamic Revolution in Iran that brought the ayatollahs to power. He also coddled Palestinian terrorists, famously meeting Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after the latter took power in a bloody coup in Gaza.
GAZA CITY, GAVA STRIP – JUNE 16: In this handout from the Hamas Government, the head of Hamas goverment in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh (L), meets with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (R) June 16, 2009 in Gaza City, the Gaza Strip. Carter is in the Gaza strip fro talks with the Hamas government about conditions to end the international boycott of the Islamic milutant group. (Photo by Muhammad Alostaz/Hamas via Getty Images)
(Haniyeh was killed by Israel in Tehran, Iran, earlier this year.)
Carter also met with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who was deposed just weeks ago.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) gestures during his meeting with Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the al-Shaab Palace in Damascus on April 18, 2008. Carter arrived in Syria for to meet with Assay and also with Hamas exiled supreme Haled Metal during his tour of the region. AFP PHOTO/LOUAI BESHARA (Photo credit should read LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told journalists on Monday that “Israel will always remember Carter’s role in forging the first peace treaty” between Israel and an Arab state — namely, the Camp David Accords with Egypt in 1978 — which has lasted for nearly half a century.
The Israeli people extended their “condolences to the Carter family and the American people,” he said.
Asked by Breitbart News how Israel dealt with Carter’s other legacy — such as his 2006 book Palestine Peace not Apartheid, which took a staunchly anti-Israel line and even appeared to excuse suicide bombing — Mencer was diplomatic.
“We deal with that issue by stating the facts,” he said. “We have expressed our condolences on the passing of President Carter. … But … we just simply state the facts, because the facts don’t lie. And the facts are that this is a country that protects its minorities.
“This is a country where Christians are able to celebrate Christmas in freedom,” he added, noting that it was the only country in the region where that is the case today.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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