Carter: Don't punish Palestinians
Former U.S. president: It is important that Israel, United States play positive roles during this time
Former President Jimmy Carter, in an opinion piece published Monday, urged the U.S. and Israeli governments to allow the Palestinians to form a government without financial interference, despite concerns about the terrorist Hamas group that won a majority of parliamentary seats.
Hamas on Monday began talks to form the Palestinians' first government led by Islamic terrorists.
"During this time of fluidity in the formation of the new government, it is important that Israel and the United States play positive roles," Carter wrote in a piece in Monday's edition of The Washington Post.
"Any tacit or formal collusion between the two powers to disrupt the process by punishing the Palestinian people could be counterproductive and have devastating consequences."
Israel has halted the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax money, branding the Palestinian government a "terrorist authority." U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced last week that no U.S. assistance will be provided to a Hamas-led Palestinian government.
Carter was the U.S. president who helped sponsor the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt at Camp David in 1979. He later won the Nobel Peace Prize, and he set up the Carter Center in Atlanta. He has acted as a monitor for elections in countries around the world.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
