Carter: The Search for Peace

Abstract

Jimmy Carter promised a new start to a public grown weary by Vietnam and Watergate. Many American Jews were uneasy over his election, feeling that his origins and experience as a Southerner had isolated him from their community and its concerns; some also felt that he could not match their knowledge of Middle East issues. Nevertheless, the new President, on his own admission an ‘outsider’ in Washington, was probably much better equipped than most of his countrymen, and many of his predecessors, to approach the region’s problems. A committed Christian, long fascinated by the land of the Bible, in May 1973 he had visited Israel, seeing for himself something of her achievements and security concerns and meeting a number of influential Israelis, including Golda Meir. In the course of the 1976 campaign, he made the customary, if by now ritual, declarations of ‘unequivocal’ support for Israel demanded of any candidate seeking Jewish votes and support. He also expressed strong disapproval of the Ford-Kissinger technique of appearing to threaten Israel if she did not do as they wished.¹ It soon became clear, however, that his Middle East policies were not to be bound by the conventions of campaign rhetoric. Not only was he determined to bring a fresh approach to the business of government, the Democratic Party had also been actively engaged in thinking about the Arab-Israeli conflict.