I love and respect the gallant efforts of former President Jimmy Carter. Since leaving office, he and his wife Rosalynn have served as humanitarians, diplomats, and Sunday school teachers. Throughout his post-White House career, Jimmy Carter has met with many foreign leaders. (Perhaps more than the entirety of his 4 years in office.) He has been celebrated for these efforts with the Nobel Peace Prize (the first president to do so.)

But his latest diplomatic efforts has many U.S. leaders up in arms. Carter is scheduled to meet with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Damascus next week. The meeting has caused such outrage that leaders from some of America’s closest allies now refuse to meet with President Carter when he arrives in their countries. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni have declined to meet with him when he visits Israel. They both claim that they have “scheduling conflicts. Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu outright says that he refuses to meet with Carter because of the meeting.

Other leaders, like Israeli President Shimon Peres and Israel Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman are still sticking to their agendas and meeting with the former U.S. president. As shocking as the news seems, this wouldn’t be the first meeting that Marshaal has had with an American leader. In 2006, long time civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. met with Marshaal as well. The Carter Center has not confirmed the meeting will take place, yet the rumors and reactions are still swirling. Stay tuned…

Technorati Tags: President Jimmy Carter, Avigdor Lieberman, Shimon Peres, Binyamin Netanyahu, Khaled Mashaal, Hamas, Jesse Jackson