Israel’s president and prime minister have declined requests for meetings with former President Jimmy Carter, who has long been a harsh critic of Israel’s policy toward the Palestinians. Mr. Carter has been persona non grata in Israel at least since his 2006 book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” and he prompted further ire during last summer’s war between Israel and Hamas, the militant Palestinian group that dominates the Gaza Strip. Mr. Carter, 90, called for an international investigation into Israel’s prosecution of the war and renewed his plea to remove Hamas from Washington’s list of terrorist groups. Jason Pearlman, a spokesman for President Reuven Rivlin of Israel, said Mr. Rivlin had declined Mr. Carter’s request to meet based on the Foreign Ministry’s counsel. When Mr. Carter visited Jerusalem in 2012 with a group of former leaders called The Elders, he met with Shimon Peres, then president, but said he had been denied meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet.
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