Speaking in New Jersey, the former president spoke extemporaneously about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in response to a heckler and defended the Jewish State: \’I killed myself to give the Palestinians a state\’
Former US president Bill Clinton spoke of Israel and the support that both he and his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, have for the peace process.
The topic came up when he was detailing his wife\’s policies and a voice in the crowd called out, "What about Gaza?" Clinton answered, referencing the negotiations led by then-Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi during Operation Protective Edge, "(Hillary) and the Muslim Brotherhood president of Egypt stopped the shooting war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza."
The interjector again interrupted, "She said neutrality is not an option," which led the audience to boo.
Clinton replied, "Depends on whether you care what happens to the Palestinians as opposed to the Hamas government and the people with guided missiles."
Still dissatisfied, the vocal audience member persisted, calling out, "There were human beings in Gaza."
"Yes, there were," agreed Clinton, who then added, "Hamas is really smart. When they decide to rocket Israel, they insinuate themselves in the hospitals, in the schools, in the highly populous areas. They are smart." This led the crowd to raucous applause.
"So they try to put the Israelis in a position of either not defending themselves or killing innocents," he continued.
The former president then shared his own disappointing experiences in attempting to bring peace to the region. "I killed myself to give the Palestinians a state," he said. "I had a deal they turned down that would have given them all of Gaza, between 96 and 97% of the West Bank, compensating land in Israel—you name it."