Israel's UN envoy Dan Gillerman says former president Jimmy Carter is 'a bigot' for meeting with the leader of resistance movement Hamas.

"[Carter] went to the region with soiled hands and came back with bloody hands after shaking the hands of Khaled Mashaal, the leader of Hamas," Gillerman said in a Thursday press briefing.

The Israeli ambassador called Carter's initiative to negotiate a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel 'a very sad episode in American history'.

It is 'a shame' to see Carter 'turn into what I believe to be a bigot', he added.

Gillerman's remarks came days after the ex-president met with Mashaal in Damascus, Syria.

"I think it is absolutely crucial that in the final and dreamed-about and prayed-for peace agreement for this region that Hamas be involved and Syria will be involved," Carter had told a business conference outside Tel Aviv on Monday.

"The problem is not that I met with Hamas in Syria. The problem is that Israel and the United States refuse to meet with someone who must be involved," added the 83-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

MD/AA