President Carter: U.S. has ‘zero’ influence over Israel and Palestine

By Agence France-Presse
Monday, October 22, 2012
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/10/22/president-carter-u-s-has-zero-influence-over-israel-and-palestine/

 

Former US president Jimmy Carter said on Monday that Washington had “zero” influence over Israel and the Palestinians to resolve their decades-long conflict, and its sway had dropped to the lowest level in 45 years.
Speaking on a tour of east Jerusalem with a group of former world leaders known as “The Elders,” 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.
“A major change lately has been the withdrawal of American influence” in the Israeli-Palestinian arena, Carter said, estimating it was the first time since the 1967 Six-Day War that Washington had not “played a major role” in trying to resolve the conflict.
“This is the first time that we’ve seen since 1967 that an American government hasn’t played a major role,” he said.
“America now has… zero influence on either side and in fact has withdrawn our commitment to be the major negotiator” between the two sides, he said.
“And when the United States withdraws, of course, that gives Israel a completely free hand to do what it wants,” he said, describing it as a “very serious disappointment.”