Bill Clinton was recorded bashing Bibi Netanyahu, agreeing that the prime minister was “not the man” to make peace with Palestinians — a position at odds with his wife’s pro-Israel stance, a new report said Monday.
Clinton’s spontaneous comments came during an impromptu conversation with pro-Palestinian activists after he and Hillary spent the day at a political event in Iowa on Sunday, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
“If we don’t force him to have peace, we won’t have peace … Netanyahu is not the guy,” the activist told the ex-president in remarks recorded by C-Span at the end of its coverage of the Harkin Steak Fry.
“I agree with that,” Bubba clearly replied, apparently unaware his remarks were being recorded.
Hillary Clinton has been increasingly vocal in her defense of Israel in recent months as she prepares for a likely run for president.
The steak fry was organized by retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and was viewed as a campaign stop for her as yet unannounced candidacy.
After hours of speeches, both Clintons hung out and signed autographs.
Hillary had wandered off, but her hubby lingered and got into a conversation with several pro-Palestinians.
Bill Clinton and one of the activists also verbally sparred over the failure of the 2000 Camp David talks on the Israel-Palestinian dispute before another pressed him about Netanyahu.
His comments contrasted starkly with Hillary’s staunch defense of Israel in a recent interview in the Atlantic magazine in which she also minimized her beefs with the hawkish prime minister when she was serving as President Obama’s secretary of state.
“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,” she told the magazine.
Spokesmen for both Bill and Hillary Clinton declined to comment to Haaretz about the comments.
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