President Carter spoke of the religious views of Israeli Premier Menachem Begin, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Fahd at the annual national prayer breakfast last Thursday at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
Recalling he has met twice with Begin during the past year and hopes to see him again soon, Carter added: “I like him, admire him, and respect him, because throughout his conversations with me in the quiet, lonely, private time together, and even when he talks with others in a larger group, there is a fervor of a deeply committed religious man who again worships the same God I do, and you do.”
Of Sadat, Carter said: “In his messages to me and in my talks to him, he never fails to point out that the Egyptians and the Jews are sons of Abraham, worship the same God, share a common heritage and a common faith, and this is a transcendent thing, quite often forgotten, but still there; that it doesn’t change.”
Fahd, Carter said, in an impromptu speech at a White House supper, spoke about “how common religious faith and their responsibility to hold together the interest in the holy places of Islam, gave him confidence in the future and guidance on how his own life should be expended in the service of others.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
