Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Jimmy Carter had a huge impact on
the Middle East, negotiating the Camp David Accords which ended the conflict
between Israel and neighbouring Egypt. In his tribute on X, Israel’s
Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu described this as “a peace treaty that has
held for nearly half a century and offers hope for future generations.”
The President Isaac Herzog calls it “an anchor of stability” in the region.

However, today some Israelis are angrily
remembering Jimmy Carter’s criticisms of their country after he left office
while Palestinians praise him for his early support for the creation of an
independent Palestinian state.

“In the 44 years since the end of his term, Carter
has steadily declined in his antisemitic stances,” writes Israel Hayom
journalist Ariel Kahana on X. “He has brought our name into disrepute around
the world.”

Carter stirred up controversy with his 2006 book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, which likened Israel’s treatment of the
Palestinians to South Africa’s former system of enforced racial
segregation. Israel strongly rejects allegations of apartheid while
Palestinian leaders often now use the term to describe the situation in
Israeli-occupied territory.

“President Carter will be remembered by the
Palestinian people as the first US president to advocate for the freedom of
Palestine and the first to warn about Israeli Apartheid,” says Ambassador Husam
Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK on social
media.

Meanwhile, former US diplomat Aaron David Miller
relates that, “Carter told me that there was nothing he regretted more [than]
not being able to move forward on Israeli-Palestinian peace.”