Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter condemned Israel Monday, saying the continuing construction in Judea and Samaria is making the prospect of peace less and less likely and telling the Jerusalem crowd he spoke to that the situation has reached "a crisis stage."

He also said Washington had "zero" influence to resolve the decades-long conflict, and its sway had dropped to the lowest level in 45 years.Speaking on a 

Carter said he was not optimistic that the United States could reassert its influence, and suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had given up on the two-state solution.