News Brief08:04 AM

(IsraelNN.com) The National Council of Young Israel has called on Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama and party leaders to cancel next week's scheduled address by former American President Jimmy Carter at the party convention in Denver, Colorado. Carter's public statements and his recent visit to Syria have attracted widespread criticism among pro-Israel supporters.

Young Israel president Shlomo Z. Mostofsky and executive vice president Rabbi Pesach Lerner stated, "Affording Mr. Carter a prime speaking engagement on the Democrats' brightest stage is an affront to the State of Israel, and to all American Zionists, whether they are Christians or Jews.

"In April, 2008 he deliberately and wantonly ignored the wishes of the United States government when he traveled to Syria to meet with Khaled Mashaal, the head of Hamas' terrorist organization. The fact that he embraced Hamas, a terrorist group that has repeatedly called for the destruction of the State of Israel, the obliteration of the United States, and the annihilation of the Jewish people, was a slap in the face to Israel, the U.S., and Jews everywhere."