Hillary Clinton: I Was the ‘Designated Yeller’ at Israel as Secretary of State

‘I have a very good relationship with him, in part because we can yell at each other’

Hillary Clinton: I Was the ‘Designated Yeller’ at Israel as Secretary of State (RealClearPolitics)

FAREED ZAKARIA: Bibi Netanyahu. You said you had a complicated and it sounded like a difficult relationship with him.

HILLARY CLINTON: Well, I have to say, I've known be a long time and I have a very good relationship with him, in part because we can yell at each other, and we do. And I was often the designated yeller. Something would happen, a new settlement announcement would come and I would call him up, what are you doing? You've got to stop this. And we understood each other because I know how hard it is to be the leader of a relatively small country that is under constant pressure and does face a lot of legitimate threats to its existence from those around it.

And I also care deeply about how Israel is able, not just to survive, but thrive, and just fundamentally disagreed with Bibi in the '90s that I was in favor of a two-state solution. I was the first person associated with any administration to say that out loud. And he did not. But then when he came back in, in 2009, he did. And I've sat with him, as you and I are sitting, and I really believe that if he thought he could get adequate security guarantees for a long enough period of time, he would be able to resolve everything with the exception of Jerusalem which is the hardest issue.

You can get borders, and if you can figure out how to do security within those borders, some of which may require having IDF and international forces in the Jordan valley, for example. Then if you could move toward a state and leave Jerusalem to be worked on, because that's the hardest issue for all sides.

 

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