October 7 gave Netanyahu's 'fragile' government a lifeline, Bill Clinton suggests

Hamas’s October 7 attacks may have been a lifeline for Benjamin Netanyahu, former US President Bill Clinton said at a New York Times DealBook summit on Friday, later suggesting that many pro-Palestinian young people formulate their opinions based on limited information on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The former president discussed the role of wokeness in the Democrats' loss in the recent presidential election, trade tariffs with China, and the importance of moral character in a country’s leadership. 

Clinton also defended the possibility of a future Jewish president of the United States during the interview.

Asked by Jewish interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin if someone Jewish could ever become the president of the United States, Clinton responded, “Absolutely.”

President-elect Trump had previously claimed that Gov. Josh Shapiro was not chosen as Kamala Harris’s running mate because of his Judaism.

“They turned him down because he’s Jewish,” Trump said at a rally - although Shapiro would later deny this was the reason when discussing the issue with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Shapiro is a “great talent and he’s tough…without being oafish," Clinton said. "I do believe he and there are several other Jewish Democrats… who I think would be very good candidates.”

“Do you have any hope for what [will] happen in the Middle East at this point?” Sorkin asked Clinton, noting the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah. “How long do you think [Benjamin] Netanyahu will remain in his role?"

The Middle East

Clinton answered that Netanyahu had survived in his role longer than he would have predicted. 

“Once the [Oct.7] attacks occurred in Gaza…from Hamas, it was a lifeline to Bibi,” Clinton said. “In the beginning, it hurt him because clearly, the IDF was not ready…all the fights were going on within Israel about the rule of law…made them more vulnerable….

“[Netanyahu] was in office, and he had a narrow parliamentary majority and an otherwise very fragile political coalition got stronger because of what happened on October 6 (7)...”

“Look, I think what has happened there in the last 25 years is one of the great tragedies of the 21st century,” Clinton continued.

The former president added that many young people had told him that "they say they are super sympathetic with the Palestinians [and that] and [that] all they know is there are a lot more Palestinians that have been killed than the Israelis. 

“I tell them what Arafat walked away from, and they can’t believe it. I said ‘oh yeah, he walked away from a Palestinian state with a capital in east Jerusalem, 96% of the West Bank, 4% of Israel…’ and I go through all the stuff that was in the deal and its not in their radars.”

Clinton continued to express his love for Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated 29 years ago. The Clinton administration oversaw the Oslo Accords, agreed to by Rabin, which would have seen a land-for-peace deal established. 

 “You walk away from these once-in-a-lifetime peace opportunities, and you can’t complain 25 years later when the doors weren’t all still open and all the possibilities weren’t still there,” Clinton remarked. “You can’t do it.”