The 60-year-old Middle East conflict appears to be cyclical. Whenever peace talks stagnate for too long, almost as if on cue the situation reverts to escalating conflict, and eventually culminates in open warfare. This has happened almost once every decade since 1948.

The viewpoint from Washington and Jerusalem is that Carter's meeting with Khaled Meshaal, the Damascus-based leader of Hamas, and his deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, rewards terrorism, as the two men are considered to be terrorists by the United States and Israel and of being responsible for attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians.

And indeed, Carter's meeting with the Hamas leadership legitimizes the Islamist movement.

In principle the belief of every civilized nation is that terrorism must never be rewarded. That is an absolute, fundamental point for every civilized human being. Except that the reality is altogether very different. In real life governments do negotiate with terrorists.

Jimmy Carter's foray into the murky world of terrorism does not in set any precedents. He is not the first, nor will he be the last official to engage terrorists in dialogue. Nor would it be uncommon for those considered terrorists today to change their stripes and become men of state. It has happened in many countries.

The sad reality is that some Palestinians, much like other groups, found the need to resort to terrorism in the first place.

Fighting terrorism blow-by-blow is a simplistic response to it and feeds the beast. The real challenge lies in developing a foreign policy that will preempt the spread of terrorism. And when it does arise, to address it face on – much like former President Jimmy Carter has done.