Rivlin with Carter
Rivlin with CarterIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Meir Indor, who heads terror victims organization Almagor, sent a letter to former US President Jimmy Carter Thursday chiding him for his visit to Shiloach, together with the delegation of retired statesmen that is touring the region. The delegation is referred to as “the elders” and is headed by Carter and former Irish President Mary Robinson.

“Daily, for the past two months, rock throwers have been scanning local traffic for Jews, then attacking them with rocks,” Indor wrote. “An American citizen who exited his vehicle to defend his wife was stabbed five times.  More generally, Arabs in the area have been rioting regularly.”

“You will realize, of course, the significance of the two-month figure: negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority resumed two months ago.  The riots and rock-throwing by Arabs in the neighborhood that you visited aim specifically to exert pressure on the Government of Israel by maiming and attempting to murder its citizens.”

“Against this backdrop of terrorism by local Arabs, you, a former president of the United States, paid them a visit. This is morally despicable.”

Indor himself survived an ambush by a rock throwing mob earlier this month.

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud) met Thursday with "the elders" and told them that their meetings with Hamas leaders make them seem like they support terror.

Rivlin mentioned the meetings between “the elders” and Hamas Gaza kingpin Ismail Haniyeh, as well as the terror group's leader Khaled Masha'al. “You are a respected and well known leader who brought about peace between Israel and Egypt,” he told Carter, who brokered the 1979 Camp David  accords.

“Many Israelis see you as a great leader who can bring about change, but one gets the impression that this delegation is not acting objectively,” Rivlin explained. “Masha'al and Haniyeh represent the viewpoint of Ahmadinejad. They oppose any agreement with Israel and strive to destroy it. Hamas and Hizbullah are Iranian proxies,” he added.

Carter denied that meeting Hamas constituted support of the organization. “Our central aim is to bring peace to the region, and that is why we meet all of the sides involved in the conflict,” he said. “We listen, we do not support.”

Rivlin also responded to 'the elders'' visit Thursday to Shiloach in Jerusalem, and their statements that Jews could only live there under Arab sovereignty. "Jews and Arabs live in Jerusalem side by side,” Rivlin said, “and sometimes inside each other. There is no way to divide the city. This would turn it into a second Belfast and that is a recipe for a conflagration.”

"The elders'" delegation includes Ela Bhatt, an Indian women’s rights activist, and Lakhdar Brahimi, a former United Nations envoy and foreign minister of Algeria.