In his Guardian piece, Jimmy Carter, among other things, justified the PA refusal to negotiate with Israel until Israel stops allowing Jews to build homes in Judea and Samaria; advocated for the acceptance of Hamas, whose Charter calls for the destruction of Israel (Article 15) and the murder of Jews (Article 7); criticized the embargo of materials that can be used for terrorism imposed by Israel at its entry points into Gaza; and recommended UN condemnation of Israel for any further Jewish construction that may take place as a means to bring the Palestinians to negotiate, while making no demands of the Palestinians. Carter also wrote that “Israel has long argued that it cannot negotiate with terrorists, yet has had an entire year without terrorism and still could not negotiate” (Jimmy Carter, ‘Gaza must be rebuilt now,’ Guardian [London], December 19, 2009).

In light of Carter’s Guardian piece, the ZOA has renewed its call upon the ADL’s Abe Foxman, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Rabbi Marvin Hier and the National Jewish Democratic Committee’s Ira Forman to withdraw their remarks supportive of Carter and his “apology.” Mr. Foxman accepted Carter’s “apology” as constituting the “beginning of reconciliation”; Rabbi Hier contended that “we have to look at it seriously” and not dismiss it; and Mr. Forman claimed that, for these vague and misleading words, Jimmy Carter should be “congratulated and encouraged.”

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “As we have already pointed out, a careful reading of Jimmy Carter’s supposed apology reveals that in fact he retracts not a single one of his hostile words and deeds against Israel over three decades, but on the contrary reaffirms their correctness. Now he adds insult to injury by purporting to have apologized for his hostile words and deeds while continuing to add to their number. The former President’s cynicism knows no bounds.

“One has only to look to Jimmy Carter’s latest Guardian piece to see how unchanged his hostility to Israel is. He criticizes the demolition of Arab houses in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, but didn’t mention that only illegal structures are demolished. In short, he wants illegal Arab construction to be left alone while opposing all legal Jewish construction. He justifies Palestinian refusal to negotiate until this occurs, even though such construction is not required by any of the past Oslo agreements and did not prevent previous negotiations. He speaks of a year free of anti-Israel terrorism, ignoring not only continuing Palestinian assaults – like the murder by Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah of Rabbi Chai last week, for which deed Abbas and the PA honored the terrorists who committed this foul deed – but the hundreds of assaults that Israeli forces prevent week after week. He ignores continuous Israeli efforts to negotiate with the PA, which the PA has consistently rebuffed, but fails to criticize the PA.

“Nothing in Jimmy Carter’s hostile anti-Israel approach has altered. His latest Guardian piece demonstrates clearly that he knowingly misled Jews and Christian Zionists about his apparent regret for his past words and deeds, while continuing in his obsessive path of hostility. Jewish and Christian Zionist leaders should repudiate his spurious apology for the sham that it so clearly is.”