Apparently, former President Bill Clinton is not singing from the same hymn-sheet as his wife, presumed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. In an interview with The Atlantic, the former First Lady and Secretary of State denied any rumors of difficulties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Atlantic reported:
She offered a vociferous defense of Israel, and of its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as well. This is noteworthy because, as secretary of state, she spent a lot of time yelling at Netanyahu on the administration's behalf over Israel’s West Bank settlement policy. Now, she is leaving no daylight at all between the Israelis and herself.
...
“I saw Netanyahu move from being against the two-state solution to announcing his support for it, to considering all kinds of Barack-like options, way far from what he is, and what he is comfortable with.”
Now, Haaretz is reporting that Bill Clinton has been recorded on-camera
singing a very different (and far more believable) tune:
Haaretz newspaper reported that he was recorded while chatting to pro-Palestinian activists at the annual Harkin Steak Fry in Iowa on Sunday - a political event widely seen as a launching pad for presidential campaigns, where Mrs Clinton confirmed for the first time that she was considering a run.
According to the footage captured by the political television channel C-Span, Mr Clinton was discussing the Arab-Israeli conflict with the group when one of the activists, Pat Minor, said of the Israeli prime minister: “If we don’t force him to have peace, we won’t have peace … Netanyahu is not the guy.”
Mr Clinton twice replied: “I agree with that.”
Of course, everyone from Mitt 'Cayman Islands Bank' Romney to Harry Reid, Michele Bachmann to Hillary Clinton has been saying the opposite: that Netanyahu is a 'peacemaker', a man willing to 'compromise'
etc etc ad nauseum.
Bill Clinton, however, isn't running for anything and is therefore less miserly with the truth. He doesn't mind confirming what the rest of us already know: that without genuine pressure from the United States, Israel has no motive to change its ways in the slightest.
It's a pity political expediency won't alllow his wife to do the same. We could all use some fresh air.
Until candidates like Hillary Clinton either grow a backbone or develop some moral sense, we'll be treated to the same risible nonsense about Netanyahu and Likud being 'partners for peace', the same mealy-mouthed 'regrets' every time Israel steals more Palestinian land, more pious cant about 'human tragedies' everytime the IDF slaughters a couple of thousand Palestinian civilians...and nothing, absolutely nothing will change.