Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday that the U.S. ties with Israel must be improved.
Clinton spoke at the annual Saban Forum, held by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy.
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Haim Saban is an Israeli-American media mogul, whose support for Ms. Clinton is legendary. Saban’s net worth is estimated at $3 billion; he is ranked by Forbes as the 143rd richest person in America.
Although she held on to the official Obama administration line, which, basically denies any disharmony between the two countries, Clinton said this cooperation must be enhanced, “regardless of the political back and forth between two raucous democracies.”
The official Obama administration line on the cooperation between the two countries is that they are “quite extraordinary, ” according to i24News.
Clinton recited the “funding of the Iron Dome [missile defense system], the funding of other military needs and equipment, the continuing strategic consultation” as evidence of this White House’s commitment to Israeli security.
On the Iran nuclear program, Clinton said the “international sanctions have had the effect that we’d hoped” for, stressing that the sanctions will be kept through the extended talks, and will only be cancelled after an agreement is reached.
Clinton emphasized that, in Iran’s case, it’s better to have “no deal over a bad deal.” She said a deal with Iran needs to “verifiably [close] all of Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon… including covert efforts.”
Clinton supported another round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, because the “absence of negotiations leave a vacuum” for extremists.
She dutifully recited the mantra that “the two-state solution remains an important and essential concept, ” noting: “Efforts that were undertaken in the last several years are very much in the interest of Israel and very much in the interest of the Palestinians.”
But she didn’t offer supporting details on that last one.
