December 29, 2024 — New York, NY
American Jewish Committee (AJC) mourns the passing of President Jimmy Carter. The 39th president of the United States, who served from 1977 to 1981, was 100 years old.
While AJC had some profound disagreements with President Carter about the Middle East, especially in the decades after he left the White House, his key role in creating the historic 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty will always be remembered with appreciation. The first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country came about in large measure due to Carter’s personal intervention in the process, engaging Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin for nearly two weeks at Camp David in 1978.
Carter’s support for the freedom of Jews in the Soviet Union, signing of legislation in 1977 banning American corporations and individuals from complying with the Arab boycott of Israel, and establishing in 1978 the President’s Commission on the Holocaust, which led to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1993, have had decisive, positive long-term impact.
In addition, Carter’s volunteer work since 1984 for Habitat for Humanity exemplified his lifelong concern for the dignity and well-being of the less fortunate.
Relations with the Jewish community were strained after Carter published his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid in November 2006. AJC considered the work a distorted account of the Middle East, especially the history of the Israeli-Arab peace process.
Alfred H. Moses, who served in the White House as Special Advisor and Special Counsel to the President, would later serve as AJC President from 1991-94. Stuart Eizenstat, who worked in the Carter White House as chief domestic policy adviser, later served as an AJC Vice President.
AJC is the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people. With headquarters in New York, 25 regional offices across the United States, 15 overseas posts, as well as partnerships with 38 Jewish community organizations worldwide, AJC’s mission is to enhance the well-being of the Jewish people and Israel and to advance human rights and democratic values in the United States and around the world. For more, please visit www.ajc.org.
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