Onstage, Bill Clinton tells Billy Crystal he thinks about failed Oslo Accords ‘every day’
In a live interview at NYC’s Beacon Theatre, the former president laments the failed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks while standing up for the Jewish state after Oct. 7
NEW YORK — The failure of the Oslo Accords remains top of mind for former US president Bill Clinton. The process, which aimed to propel the Israel-Palestine peace process through a negotiated two-state solution, fell apart just six weeks before Clinton’s second term ended.
“It was heartbreaking. Every day I think about it,” Clinton said from the stage of the historic Beacon Theater, ensconced in a brown, leather wing chair.
Clinton was speaking with actor and comedian Billy Crystal about his new memoir, “Citizen: My Life After the White House.” And while their wide-ranging conversation was occasionally sprinkled with humor — Clinton’s description of feeling disoriented for a couple of weeks after leaving the White House because “nobody played a song when I walked into a room,” drew appreciative chuckles — it mostly struck a serious, if poignant tone.
After introducing the 42nd president, Crystal turned to Clinton, a slightly worried look on his face, and asked him to weigh in on the recent presidential election.
“What happened? Where are we going?” Crystal asked.
A heckler jumped to her feet and yelled something indecipherable about an impending nuclear war, but once the audience settled, Clinton answered.
“First of all, all over the world incumbent governments are being voted out; right, left, and center. It doesn’t matter that Biden will leave the job with the largest number of new jobs in history… we’re in a rough patch regarding fuel, food, and housing,” said Clinton.
And while Clinton praised US Vice President Kamala Harris’s economic plan, he said she faced the problem that “there is real discontent about inflation and the lag between feeling better. We’ve only just begun to reap the benefits from Biden’s three biggest legislative achievements.”
Additionally, Trump was able to exploit concerns about immigration and “the chaos at the border,” Clinton said, adding that “President Trump’s great gift is to get everyone excited and foaming at the mouth.”
As if on cue, a second heckler rose from her seat and shouted, “End the war in Gaza! Stop arming Ukraine!”
“Where were you on October 7?” Clinton asked the protester, adding that “it’s very easy to criticize Israel from the comfort of where we are tonight.”
Indeed, aside from touching on his post-presidential career of advocacy work that took him from India to Louisiana as well as his friendships with former South African president Nelson Mandela and former US president George W. Bush, Clinton spent a significant portion of the evening talking about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Clinton said people must understand what triggered Israel’s current war in Gaza, which began with the Hamas-led massacre of 1,200 men, women, and children in southern Israel and the kidnapping of 251 to the Gaza Strip.
“When Hamas decided to do what they did and made a deal with Iran, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, it was like all bets are off. While I do not agree with Mr. Netanyahu’s policy — I don’t think we can kill our way out of this — it’s no accident that the most devastated area in Israel on October 7 were the kibbutzim along the border. That’s where Israelis were more likely to favor a Palestinian state like the one we had offered when I was president,” he said.
Clinton then steered the conversation to the Oslo Accords and how the agreement would have given the Palestinians a state on 96 percent of the West Bank and 4% of Israel from land they could choose, as well as an airport and a seaport.
Six weeks before Clinton left the White House, [Palestinian leader] Yasser Arafat came to the Oval Office.
“I asked him if he was going to sign [the agreement] and he said, ‘Yes, I will sign.’ He never did. [Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin was killed, and it has just gone from bad to worse.
“We need to understand, everyone playing this game needs to understand, too many people have died. We need a ceasefire and to get the hostages home,” Clinton said. PJC
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