World leaders, journalists and political commentators have offered their condolences and weighed in on former US President Jimmy Carter’s legacy after he died on Sunday at the age of 100.
The former US leader was behind several major foreign policy decisions affecting the Middle East which still endure.
While he has been regarded as a champion of Palestinian rights later in his career, he was also responsible for controversial actions such as the Camp David Accords which led to the peace deal between Israel and Egypt in 1979 and his handling of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.
He is one of the few US presidents to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and at times drawn criticism for some of his decisions throughout his presidency, however after leaving the White House he spent much of his time involved in peace initiatives.
Here, The New Arab looks at reactions from around the region, which has been shaped by some of his decisions.
Egypt
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi expressed his condolences and called him a “symbol of humanitarian and diplomatic efforts”.
“His efforts in preserving the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel will remain etched in history, and his humanitarian work demonstrate a standard of love, peace, and brotherhood” a statement from the presidency read.
“His legacy ensures that he will be remembered as one of the world’s most prominent leaders in service to humanity. May God have mercy on former President Jimmy Carter” it continued.
While Carter’s peace deal has been hailed by some, others refer to him as the “father of Arab-Israeli normalisation”.
“As developments in the past four decades have shown, neither the accords nor the treaty led to peace and justice in the Middle East” Imad Harb, the director of research and analysis at the Arab Centre in Washington wrote on his passing.
“Looking back at the accords Carter brokered, it is clear that they were the beginning of the slow and gradual, although not publicly acknowledged, abandonment of the Palestinian cause by Arab officialdom, and a US campaign to bury Palestinian national aspirations” he continued.
Israel
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog called Carter “brave” in a statement offering condolences to his family and Americans.
“In recent years I had the pleasure of calling him and thanking him for his historic efforts to bring together two great leaders, Begin and Sadat, and forging a peace between Israel and Egypt that remains an anchor of stability throughout the Middle East and North Africa many decades later” the statement read.
He added that his “legacy will be defined by his deep commitment to forging peace between nations”.
After leaving the White House, Carter wrote extensively about the oppression of Palestinians at the hands of Israel.
One of the books he authored was titled ‘Palestine: Peace not Apartheid” where he offered his opinion on how Palestinians can achieve peace and stated this would not be possible under Israeli occupation.
He explicitly states that Israel had imposed a system of apartheid in occupied Palestinian territories.
When pressed by National Public Radio over his use of the word “apartheid”, Carter said: “This is a very accurate description of the forced separation within the West Bank and Israel from Palestinians and the total domination and oppression of Palestinians by the dominant Israeli military”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented that Carter will be remembered for the peace treaty, “that has held for nearly half a century and offers hope for future generations”.
UAE
The United Arab Emirates’ Sheikh Mohammed called Carter a “good friend of the UAE” in his tribute.
“Together with the late Sheikh Zayed, he laid the foundations for disease eradication efforts that continue to make a meaningful impact today. May he rest in peace” he wrote in a post on social media platform X.
Iran
Many say Carter’s legacy has been tainted by his handling of the Iran hostage crisis, where on 4 November 1979 Iranian militant students stormed the US embassy and captured staff, angered by the US allowing Iran’s ousted Shah to travel to New York for treatment.
The captive crisis went on for around 14 months, with many criticising Carter for his inability to negotiate for the 52 Americans to be freed.
Things worsened when Carter sent a rescue mission in 1980 to free the hostages, where none were freed and instead eight US military personnel were killed.
US-Iran historian John Ghaznivian told Al-Monitor this was a defining for Carter’s career.
“It unleashed forces that have fundamentally reshaped our world in the past four decades. America lost a critical ally in 1979, and Carter lost his presidency. But the hostage crisis also ushered in an era of Islamist radicalism whose consequences are still being felt” he said.
Widespread reaction
Carter’s death has also drawn widespread reactions from commentators online.
“In the commentary on the foreign policy legacy of Jimmy Carter there needs to be more discussion of the Carter Doctrine (1980) and its role in the militarization of US policy in the Gulf and the broader Middle East,” one person wrote on X.
“Jimmy Carter pardoned Vietnam War draft objectors, backed the civil rights movement, led the global charge to eradicate Guinea worm disease and was an unapologetic voice for Middle East peace and Palestinian freedom. Possibly the best person ever to occupy the U.S. presidency,” another wrote.
The body awarding the Nobel Peace Prize said he should be praised for his “decades of untiring effort” to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts.
