Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter's apology to the Jewish community over his anti-Israel views should not be taken seriously, an Anti-Defamation League statement said Sunday, claiming that Carter had continued attacking Israel even after sending an apologetic letter to the leaders of the U.S. Jewish community.
Late last year, the former U.S. president apologized to the American Jewish community for "stigmatizing Israel" in a letter published by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and asked for forgiveness for his actions.
"We must recognize Israel's achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel," Carter wrote.
"As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so," Carter wrote, referring to the prayer said on Yom Kippur in which Jews ask God for forgiveness for any sins.
In the statement released Sunday, ADL chief Abraham H. Foxman called "that apology into question following a speech in which he reverted to his former views."
The statement referred to a speech given by Carter this month which, Foxman writes, is profoundly disappointing, and leaves little doubt of the insincerity of his apology."
On one occasion, Foxman claimed, Carter accused the U.S. of being "much more attuned to the sensitivities of the Israelis" during a U.S.-Arab relations in Atlanta, adding that he felt the U.S. had "yielded excessively to the circumstances in the Holy Land as Israel has confiscated several lands within Palestine."
Carter had also, in that occasion, accused the Obama administration of unfairly siding with Israel and criticized the administration's shuttle diplomacy efforts as "feeble."
"Those remarks," the ADL statement said, "coincided with the diplomatic dust-up between Israel and the U.S. over new housing construction in East Jerusalem."
The statement also referred to a latter sent to the former U.S. president by Foxman, in which the ADL chief "questioned the sincerity of his apology and offer to continue discussions in the future - an offer Carter had proffered in a call to ADL the same day of his speech in Atlanta."
"I do not believe further discussions between us will be fruitful," Mr. Foxman wrote. "I continue to hope the day will come when you have truly repented of your insensitive views of Israel and the Jewish people.