Jimmy Carter: “I have a determination to help the parties reach that settlement.”

I recognize that Israel is a wonderful democracy with freedom of speech and equality of treatment under the law between Arab Israelis and Jewish Israelis.

All of us owe them our gratitude and respect.

Our great nation now teeters on the brink of a widening abyss. Without immediate action, we are at genuine risk of civil conflict and losing our precious democracy.

But inside Palestine, outside of Israel, where the Israelis occupying forces are there, the persecution and deprivation of the Palestinians is horrendous.