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Israeli Security Snubs Carter
U.S. source tells ABC News former president is not getting adequate security.
JERUSALEM, April 14, 2008 — -- Former President Carter, currently visiting Israel, is not receiving the normal security protection from the Israeli domestic intelligence agency, an informed U.S. source told ABC News today.
The source said that a request by the U.S. Secret Service for an advance meeting with Shin Bet, its Israeli counterpart, to coordinate the security of the former president had gone unanswered. The source claimed that this "was an unprecedented lack of cooperation" and that "protocol had been breached."
Carter is on a four-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories and has angered Israelis by making it clear that he intends to meet with the leader of Hamas.
On ABC News' "This Week" program Sunday, he confirmed his intention of meeting Hamas leader Khaled Meshal in Damascus next week. He repeated his intentions to meet with Meshal during an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz today.
That has not been popular in Jerusalem or Washington, both of which have branded Hamas a terrorist organization and refuse to have contact with it.
Furthermore, Carter has no scheduled meetings with senior Israeli government ministers during his visit.
In today's edition of Haaretz the former president said, "In a democracy like Israel there is a wide range of opinions that counterbalances the disappointment I have in not meeting with people shaping Israeli power in government."
Carter today was visiting the Israeli town of Sderot, the target of numerous Palestinian rocket attacks from nearby Gaza, now controlled by Hamas. Last month Republican presidential hopeful John McCain also went to Sderot and his delegation received high-profile Israeli security protection.
The U.S. source told ABC News that Carter's published views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the publicity surrounding his planned meeting with Meshal made him a potential target for right-wing Israelis. Carter has been portrayed in some sections of the Israeli media as having an anti-Israeli agenda.
Security coordination with Israel's intelligence agency was therefore all the more important according to the source, who said that Carter's Secret Service detail was essentially "acting in the dark."
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