Likud Party Chairman and Knesset Opposition Leader Binyamin Netanyahu has stated his refusal to meet with former US President Jimmy Carter when he visits the region this week. Carter plans to meet with Hamas arch-terrorist Khaled Mashaal in Damascus in direct violation of US government policy and despite the strong urging of American State Department officials to abandon his plans to do so.
An aide to Netanyahu explained his boss's unwillingness to meet with Carter "stems from [his] anti-Israel views over the past few years." Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni were equally unavailable to meet with the former president, both claiming packed schedules as the reason.