After former U.S. President Jimmy Carter passed away on Sunday at the age of 100, Israelis remembered his legacy with mixed feelings.
Carter, who served as America's commander-in-chief from 1977 to 1981, had a complicated relationship with Israel throughout his life.
During his single term as president, Carter facilitated a historic peace agreement between Israel and Egypt known as the Camp David Accords.
After 12 days of secret meetings at the U.S. president's Camp David retreat center in 1978, Carter signed an agreement with then-Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
The agreement was signed just five years after Sadat launched the Yom Kippur War against Israel in conjunction with Syria, Jordan, and several other nations.
The Camp David Accords constituted the first official peace treaty between Israel and an Arab nation.
Responding to Carter's passing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu honored Carter's integral role in bringing peace between Israel and Egypt.
"We will always remember President Carter's role in forging the first Arab-Israeli peace treaty signed by Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, a peace treaty that has held for nearly half a century and offers hope for future generations," he said.
Current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also praised Carter for facilitating the peace treaty.
"His significant role in achieving the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel will remain etched in the annals of history, and his humanitarian work exemplifies a lofty standard of love, peace, and brotherhood," el-Sisi said.
Despite orchestrating this historic moment in Israeli history, Carter became a strong critic of Israel during his later years.
Carter strongly opposed the increasing number of Israeli settlements and accused Israel of apartheid in the Palestinian territories.
In 2006, Carter published a book about the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, titled "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."
In an article defending the book, Carter said that while in Israel "democracy prevails and citizens live together and are legally guaranteed equal status," this is not the case in "the occupied Palestinian Territories."
Carter also wrote that open dialogue about the conflict was suppressed due, in large part, to AIPAC lobbying.
"For the last 30 years, I have witnessed and experienced the severe restraints on any free and balanced discussion of the facts," he wrote. "This reluctance to criticize any policies of the Israeli government is because of the extraordinary lobbying efforts of the American-Israel Political Action Committee and the absence of any significant contrary voices."
Such criticism of Israeli policies even resulted in Netanyahu refusing to meet with Carter when he visited Israel in 2015.
Still, at Carter's passing, Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders took the occasion to honor the former American president for his contributions to facilitating peace in the region.
"His legacy will be defined by his deep commitment to forging peace between nations," Israeli President Isaac Herzog said. "On behalf of the Israeli people, I send my condolences to his family, his loved ones, and to the American people."
Republished with permission from All Israel News.