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Israeli PM, President Turn Down Jimmy Carter Visit

CBN

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JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin declined former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's invitation to meet with him during his visit to Israel, citing his anti-Israel stance.

The two leaders announced their decision following consultations with the Foreign Ministry and the National Security Council, Israeli media reported.

Carter has never been a supporter of the Jewish state, but he's ramped up his anti-Israel rhetoric over the past several years.

During Israel's military incursion into the Gaza Strip last summer to stop Hamas rocket fire on Israeli population centers, Carter said Israel had "no justification in the world" for its actions.

He also leveled the playing field between Israel and Hamas by recommending the International Criminal Court at The Hague investigate both for war crimes.

Newsmax quoted Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who called his remarks "so obnoxious and so hypocritical and so typical" of him, saying he's "made himself irrelevant and tossed himself into the trash pan of history," adding that he'd "never met a terrorist he didn't like."

"He loved Yasser Arafat and hated every Israeli leader he ever met," Dershowitz said.

Carter also blamed Netanyahu for blocking progress toward a two-state solution.

Israel, for its part, approved Carter's request for a visit to the Gaza Strip again on this trip.

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