Jimmy Carter - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Camp David Accords (TOI)

I can’t do it. I can’t join the chorus of what seems like endless praise for Jimmy Carter, a man who in my view has done so much harm to the Jewish people - and even to the world. My views about the late president who died at age 100 are complicated. But at the end of the day, the harm he has done far outweighs any good he has done during or since his presidency. He is certainly the worst president of my lifetime. (Which goes back to the Truman years.)

The irony of all this is that Jimmy Carter is responsible for what may be the greatest achievement toward peace in the history of the Israeli-Arab conflict. Egypt was Israel’s most powerful enemy. Its president Gamal Abdel Nasser kept promising to drive the Jews into the sea from the very first day of Israeli independence. Eventually attempting  to make good on that promise in 1967, Syria and Jordan joined Egypt in that attempt but failed miserably. Nassar's successor, Anwar Sadat, tried it again in 1973. He didn't succeed either. 

Long story short - in 1978 after a lot of hard work Carter got Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to sign a peace treaty that is still in effect to this day. The significance of Carter's achievement cannot not be understated. It deserves our undying gratitude.

But there is something even more remarkable about the man that deserves our admiration. Which is something I addressed when it happened:

Earlier this year Jimmy Carter was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Tumors were found  in various parts of his body including his brain. The prognosis was not good. Especially for someone as advanced in age as he is. His reaction to that can only be described as that of role model quality. He expressed thanks to his dedicated doctors, love of his family, and said that he remained hopeful. He expressed his full faith in God and said the future is in His hands. 

One usually hears such stories from our own faithful. I can recall reading stories about husbands or wives describing the faith a terminally ill spouse would show in the face of their dreaded illness. They expressed great wonder and admiration at the pure faith in God expressed by their spouse at such a time.  Hoping for a cure, they nevertheless had an attitude of peace and resignation about the will of God. This is what Jimmy Carter expressed. I remember having mixed feelings about that – resenting the fact that it took this perceived anti Semite to teach us how to react to bad news about our heath. 

Last Sunday, he announced that he is in full remission. No Tumors were detected after his last scan. Although he had undergone treatment, which included radiation and some experimental drugs the prognosis for surviving this type of cancer was not good. But survive he has. Those tumors seem to have miraculously disappeared.

Perhaps this was the reward for his strong and publicly stated faith in God. Apparently that he is a believing Christian (which of course we do not believe in as Jews) did not take away from his merit. And this doesn’t even address all of the humanitarian work he did after his presidency. Some historians are saying that his post presidency was far greater than his actual presidency.

Well, he may have done some good things. Both during and after his presidency. But they were overshadowed by what may be the biggest policy failure of the 20^th century. Ironically it was his humanitarianism that helped radical Islam rise in the world. 

Iran had been a pro American - pro Israel westernized nation under a monarch  (the Shah) who was determined to bring his country into twentieth century. Carter pressured the Shah to loosen the reins over his political enemies. That resulted in the eventual overthrow of his regime. Shortly after that, radical Islam took over the country and immediately took Americans working at its embassy there hostage. That government still reins now 45 years later. And is probably the single biggest thereat to world peace in our day. All of which can be traced back to Carter.

That was during his presidency. After his presidency while he was making a name for himself as a great humanitarian, his true feeling for Israel emerged. Carter basically took on the Palestinian narrative about the conflict and blamed Israel for all the troubles in the world. If I remember correctly he was the first to call Israel an Apartheid state. Carter was unrelenting in his criticism - spewing much the same garbage out of his mouth as does PA president, Mahmoud Abbas. And this began long before Netanyahu became prime minister. If there was ever a posterchild for a Palestinian supporter and harsh critic of Israel - it was Jimmy Carter.

So no. I can’t express any sorrow over his death. The harm to the Jewish state is incalculable. That’s the kind of negative influence a former president has when he is praised in such glowing terms without ever talking about his failures. 

And yet God granted this man Arichas Yomin - the long life that is usually reserved for Tzadikim - the truly righteous.

I suppose that his faith in God helped him achieve living to such a ripe old age. And helped cure him from stage 4 cancer. 

I don’t know. Perhaps that’s because God wanted to reward him for all his good deeds in this world so that he will get his just deserts in the next. Which means that he is probably not in the place he thought he would be. Because God doesn’t like it when you hurt His people.