Former President Jimmy Carter does not think much about Hillary Clinton's effort to bring about peace in the Middle East. John Kerry's efforts, on the other hand, are "notable," according to Carter.

He made the remarks in an interview with Time magazine, in response to this question: "What’s your take on Secretary Kerry’s efforts so far in the Mideast?"

"I think they are notable, and I have a great admiration for him. I stay in touch with him fairly often by email, I send him messages and tell him what my thoughts might be, and he has responded very graciously. He has had a very difficult time operating pretty much on his own. I know from experience that the best way to have the United States be a mediator is for the president himself to be deeply involved," said Carter before pivoting to criticize Clinton. " In this occasion, when Secretary Clinton was Secretary of State, she took very little action to bring about peace. It was only John Kerry’s coming into office that reinitiated all these very important and crucial issues."

Carter also indicated that he's been in touch with Kerry about his efforts in the Middle East.

"I don’t want to reveal what messages I’ve sent to Secretary Kerry. But I’ve urged him as he formulates the framework not to deviate from longstanding international law that has always been observed by the United States and by all the Europeans and by the Israelis and the Arab countries, and I think to reverse all those basic United Nations that everyone has agreed to establish would be a step backwards," Carter told Time.

Daniel Halper is author of the forthcoming book Clinton, Inc.: The Audacious Rebuilding of a Political Machine .