In other news, former President Jimmy Carter has labeled what he calls Israel’s: “colonization of Palestine” as the “preeminent obstacle to peace.” Writing in the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, Carter said Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza has prevented a comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinians — regardless of whether they were under the leadership of Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas or Hamas. Carter also questioned Israel’s offers to the Palestinians during the years of Oslo peace process, saying at best they amounted to withdrawing only a small number of the over 220,000 settlers in the West Bank. Carter went on to write that Israel’s continuing control of Gaza’s borders and airspace makes the area a “nonviable economic and political entity”, while future prospects for the West Bank remain “equally dismal.”