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Israel's ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman (AP)
Last update - 08:46 25/04/2008
Israeli envoy to UN calls Carter 'a bigot' for meeting Meshal
By The Associated Press
Tags: Khaled Meshal, Israel 

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday called former President Jimmy Carter "a bigot" for meeting with the leader of the militant Hamas movement in Syria.

Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, "went to the region with soiled hands and came back with bloody hands after shaking the hand of Khaled Meshal, the leader of Hamas," Ambassador Dan Gillerman told a luncheon briefing for reporters.

The diplomat was questioned about problems facing his country during a wide-ranging discussion with reporters lasting more than an hour. The briefing was sponsored by The Israel Project, a Washington-based, media-oriented advocacy group.
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The ambassador's harsh words for Carter came days after the ex-president met with Meshal for seven hours in Damascus to negotiate a cease-fire with Gaza's Hamas rulers. Carter then called Meshal on Monday to try to get him to agree to a one-month truce without conditions, but the Hamas leader rejected the idea.

The ambassador called last weekend's encounter "a very sad episode in American history."

He said it was "a shame" to see Carter, who had done "good things" as a former president, "turn into what I believe to be a bigot."

Reacting to the ambassador's comments, former Meretz chairman MK Yossi Beilin on Friday urged the state to recall Gillerman from his post.

Telephone calls by The Associated Press to two Atlanta numbers for Carter were not immediately returned Thursday.

During Carter's visit, Gillerman said, Hamas "was shelling our cities and maiming and injuring and wounding Israeli babies and Israeli children."

The ambassador noted that Hamas is armed and trained by Iran, whose president once called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

"The real danger, the real problem is not the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the real threat is Iran," he said.

Gillerman spoke with reporters from around the world at the Times Square offices of a New York law firm on the day Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was in Washington meeting with President Bush.

The ambassador said he was "quite optimistic" about the chances for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement because Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have met more times than any previous leaders of the two sides.

"I believe they've gone deeper and further than any other Israeli or Palestinian leader, and I believe that there is a very good chance (for a settlement)," he said.

Gillerman also was asked about another topic involving the U.S. government and Israel: the arrest last week in New Jersey of an 84-year-old man accused of passing U.S. weapons program secrets to an Israeli agent a quarter-century ago.

Retired U.S. military engineer Ben-ami Kadish faces charges linking him to the same now-defunct Israeli intelligence agency that used Jonathan Pollard, who is serving a life sentence for spying for Israel.

Gillerman called it "a very old matter."

"It pertains to something that may or may not have happened 25 years ago" and would be decided when Kadish goes to trial, he said.

In the wake of the Pollard case, the ambassador said Israel had made a pledge not to spy on the United States, "and that is something which I know that we have honored completely."

The ambassador declined to comment on U.S. government reports that Syria was building a nuclear reactor with North Korean assistance before it was bombed by Israeli planes last year.

Gillerman called Syria a "destabilizing influence" in the Middle East.

"You see Syria's hosting, very hospitably and warmly, over 10 terror organizations in Damascus," the ambassador said, adding that the country also supports Hezbollah, an anti-Israeli Shiite group in Lebanon with close ties to Iran and Syria.

"Basically, Syria and Iran, together with Hamas and Hezbollah, are the main axes of terror and evil in the world," the Israeli ambassador said.

Related articles:
  • Hamas set to agree on staged truce starting in Gaza Strip
  • Ex-envoy Indyk: Syria won't talk to Israel unless U.S. present
  • Akiva Eldar / It's not just about manners
  • Ari Shavit / Beware, appeasement
  • Obama wary of Carter's report of breakthrough with Hamas
  • Carter blames the U.S. for blocking peace with Syria
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      1.   Carter refuses to dance to Israel`s tune-- GOOD! 04:08  |  geezer 25/04/08
      2.   Gillerman is a neurotic hysteric 04:09  |  Dovy 25/04/08
      3.   "The best ex-President we`ve ever had" 04:24  |  Derek 25/04/08
      4.   not necessarily a bigot, just a big IDIOT 05:07  |  PhillyJew 25/04/08
      5.   Derek gave up the worship of g-d for the worship of the ziostate? 05:08  |  shame on you 25/04/08
      6.   HERE IS A LINK 2 THE HAMAS CHARTER... 05:11  |  PhillyJew 25/04/08
      7.   HERE IS A LINK 2 THE HAMAS CHARTER... 05:12  |  PhillyJew 25/04/08
      8.   Carter is an ex-US President and Nobel prize winner. 05:23  |  Jacob 25/04/08
      9.   OldSchool 05:27  |  TrueAmerican 25/04/08
      10.   Who`s the bigot here? 05:43  |  Jim 25/04/08
      11.   The real bigot is the ambassador himself 05:45  |  Aounist 25/04/08
      12.   He`s right, would Carter have met w. KuKluxKlan on civil rights? 05:48  |  Dr. L. Brnd 25/04/08
      13.   GILLERMAN IS JUST THROWING ANOTHER ONE OF HIS MANY 05:50  |  JoeMomma 25/04/08
      14.   #1 dancer not, paid for yes 05:52  |  larzbeach 25/04/08
      15.   Dan Gillerman is the real bigot here 05:54  |  Dutch 25/04/08
      16.   GILLERMAN SHOULD BE RECALLED TO TEL AVIV 05:56  |  JH 25/04/08
      17.   Worst US President Ever 06:03  |  dyinglikeflies 25/04/08
      18.   Israel was founded upon bigotry. Zionism = Jews Only 06:05  |  *BEN JABO 25/04/08
      19.   who`s babies and children? 06:11  |  leander 25/04/08
      20.   Dr. L. Brnd (obviosly no doctor) of course 06:22  |  get a clue 25/04/08
      21.   Dovy #2 is Naturei Karta terror lover 06:29  |  Jane 25/04/08
      22.   israelis aren`t the only one who are suffering 06:29  |  jay 25/04/08
      23.   On The NewsHour 06:29  |  Mark of Lewiston 25/04/08
      24.   #10 - Carter is a Jew-hating bigot 06:30  |  Jane 25/04/08
      25.   #11 No, the bigot is Carter 06:30  |  Jane 25/04/08
      26.   JoeMama should be sent back to his Arab homeland 06:31  |  Jane 25/04/08
      27.   No, Dutch, it`s you, Carter and all lovers of terror 06:32  |  Jane 25/04/08
      28.   JH - Carter is funded by Arabs 06:33  |  Jane 25/04/08
      29.   Israel was founded on survival, BenJabo 06:33  |  Jane 25/04/08
      30.   Leander - that`s called self-defense 06:34  |  Jane 25/04/08
      31.   #20 - what Peacemaker has Israel ever killed? 06:35  |  Jane 25/04/08
      32.   Geezer - you are predictable and boring 06:36  |  Jane 25/04/08
      33.   HE DOESN`T KNOW DIPLOMATIC MANNERS 06:36  |  indrajaya 25/04/08
      34.   "True American" - are you Navajo? 06:37  |  Jane 25/04/08
      35.   THE BIGOTS ARE THOSE WHO VILIFY CARTER 06:45  |  JH 25/04/08
      36.   #26 JANE: WISHES SHE HAD A HOME INSTEAD OF SQUATTING 06:53  |  JoeMomma 25/04/08
      37.   Ambassador Dan Gillerman is no Abba Eban... 06:54  |  Smadar 25/04/08
      38.   JANE RETURN TO THE JUNGLE WITH TARZAN 06:56  |  JH 25/04/08
      39.   problem is Hamas and settlements, not Carter 07:00  |  newageblues 25/04/08
      40.   Jay @22 07:16  |  George Kaplan 25/04/08
      41.   who has blood on their hands...? 08:37  |  ravi 25/04/08
      42.   I Don`t Blame The Israeli Ambassador 08:44  |  Yosemite 25/04/08
      43.   How many Jews will Hamas allow? Who is the real bigot? 08:50  |  Joe Sittizen 25/04/08
      44.   #31 - History Lesson for Jane 09:11  |  Knott Bushman 25/04/08
      45.   #8 Jacob 09:11  |  Sarah 25/04/08
      46.   carter 09:11  |  David 25/04/08
      47.   #13 JoeMomma 09:15  |  Sarah 25/04/08
      48.   #36 Smadar 09:27  |  Sarah 25/04/08
      49.   Abba Eban must be turning in his grave 09:47  |  Chanalau, Tova 25/04/08
      50.   Carter has disgraced the United States 09:54  |  I 25/04/08
      51.   What works for a President in power does not work for the Ex 10:07  |  PETER SM 25/04/08
      52.   Indeed, Carter is a bigot!!! 10:08  |  Dan 25/04/08
      53.   LITTLE BOOK OPEN 10:31  |  roger wallace 25/04/08
      54.   Who is bigot 10:34  |  Tomas 25/04/08
      55.   Stone the Messenger 10:35  |  ghostoflutherblisset 25/04/08
      56.   Can anyone be surprised to see ... 10:48  |  Edith 25/04/08
      57.   I JUST LOVE JEWISH COMEDIANS... 10:53  |  PADDY 25/04/08
      58.   GILLERMAN is a gentleman and IS RIGHT about Carter. 10:54  |  Fortuna Benmayor 25/04/08
      59.   Bravo Ambassador Gillerman! Finally someone stating the obvious. 10:58  |  Mladen Andrijasevic 25/04/08
      60.   Who Gives a Damn What Gillerman Thinks 11:00  |  Patriotic American 25/04/08
      61.   A "bigot" ...?! 11:23  |  Esther 25/04/08
      62.   He`s Got Guts 11:26  |  JJ 25/04/08
      63.   CARTER`S WRONG UNDERSTANDING. 11:27  |  Dangalil 25/04/08
      64.   Carter should mind his own business 11:34  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 25/04/08
      65.   One thing I have noticed in the intolerant... 11:40  |  Johnboy 25/04/08
      66.   At last,at long last someone had the guts t pull up this 11:56  |  YSL 25/04/08
      67.   Israel govt. does not want peace 12:04  |  matt 25/04/08
      68.   Ambassador Gillerman. 12:27  |  David Nigel Braham 25/04/08
      69.   CARTER is dangerous and Gillerman should 12:32  |  John Syracuse 25/04/08
      70.