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BILL CLINTON TO ISRAEL: GIVE OBAMA A CHANCE

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton touches the Western Wall,
during a visit to the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday.

Haaretz

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton on Sunday said that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict could possibly be solved during President Barack Obama’s tenure, and urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Obama to maintain a policy of honesty during their private talks with each other.

The visiting former president, who said Saturday that peace could have been achieved had then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin not been slain, told Israeli journalist Nahum Barnea that Israel must stop viewing Obama as the enemy.

Clinton also recommended that Netanyahu and Obama act diplomatically in public, so as not to confound the issues in the eyes of the media. Their seemingly shaky relationship thus far should not be seen as any indication of future partnership, he said.

Clinton reiterated America’s commitment to Israel’s security, and said that the U.S. must be free to express its opinions on the conflict without forcing Jerusalem to accept its every demand.

He also urged Israel to recognize the importance of Obama being accepted among non-extremists in the Muslim world.

The unbalanced demographics in the region, with higher birth rates among the Palestinians and their growing capability of rocket technology, shows the urgency of achieving peace as soon as possible, he said.

The former president also told the forum that Iran’s contentious nuclear program was not in itself the main issue facing the West, but the implications that it would encourage other regional entities to seek nuclear capabilities for themselves.

See Related: ISRAEL-MIDEAST