Former American President Jimmy Carter cannot follow through with his promises of overtures by Hamas because the keys are in not in his hands but are in those of Khaled Mashaal, the Syrian-based Hamas leader whom Carter visited, government officials told Voice of Israel government radio.
Carter said in Jerusalem on Monday that Hamas is willing to recognize Israel under previously stated conditions, which even leftist leaders do not accept. He asserted that Hamas soon will deliver a letter from kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit to his parents, but the information was not passed on to Ofir Dekel, who is the government's representative on the issue of kidnapped soldiers. Prime Minster Ehud Olmert last week refused a request to meet with Carter, whose trip to Damascus to meet with Mashaal was undertaken against the advice and policy of the Bush administration.