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This week, Former President Carter defied the stated foreign policy of the United States by meeting with leaders of Hamas. This is the same radical terrorist organization that routinely targets Israeli civilians and is dedicated to the destruction of our close friend and ally, Israel.
When a gunman murdered eight students last month in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva school library in Jerusalem, Hamas rejoiced and pledged that the attack would not be the last. Hamas plans and executes regular suicide attacks and aims mortar rounds and rockets at Israeli civilians. Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department, the European Union, Canada, Australia, and Israel and has been condemned by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch.
Former President Carter should be reminded that he is a private citizen who has no business conducting freelance talks with a terrorist group that the rest of the free world is trying to isolate. The United States has worked to restrict Hamas’ ability to function while simultaneously supporting our ally, Israel. By meeting with Hamas, Jimmy Carter undermines our foreign policy in the Middle East and legitimizes Hamas’ positions. This trip is a painful reminder of Carter’s own disastrous policies toward Iran, which contributed to the 1979 Islamic revolution and the rise of Iranian-backed Shia terrorism.
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