U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met at the State Department last week with former president Jimmy Carter in order to seek his advice on the Middle East. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack explained Rice’s reasoning, saying, "She’s trying to draw on the historical record and the experiences of others to see what she can glean and how that may be applicable to the current day." McCormack said that the Rice-Carter discussion was limited to the Israeli-Palestinian track and did not include Carter’s vocal criticism of the Bush administration’s Iraqi policy. McCormack also did not comment on the virtual warfare between Carter and the pro-Israel community, which sees the former president as unabashedly anti-Israel. Carter’s recent book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, accuses Israel of practicing apartheid against the Palestinians. In addition to Carter Rice is also speaking with former president Bill Clinton and others who have been involved in the peace process.