CBNNews - You might think the former U.S. president who helped negotiate the first Israeli-Arab peace treaty would get a warm welcome in Israel. But Jimmy Carter is getting anything but that in Israel this week.

During a visit to the rocket-beleaguered city of Sderot near the Gaza border, Carter condemned Palestinian Kassam rocket attacks on Israelis as a "despicable crime."

But his decision to meet later this week with Khaled Mashaal, the exiled leader of the party responsible for ongoing rocket attacks, has cooled Israel's acceptance of the one-time world leader.

Carter has been snubbed by the rest of Israel's leaders, as well as for his comparison of Israel's state policies to apartheid.

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