Former President Bill Clinton engaged with a pro-Palestinian protester for nearly 15 minutes during a Pennsylvania campaign stop today.
During their exchange, Clinton expressed deep frustration for not being able to move an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement across the finish line at the end of his presidency. He also apologized for not being able to more directly answer the protester’s concerns.
The episode took place at a campaign stop at the University of Pittsburgh’s Greensburg campus in Westmoreland County. During his roughly 50-minute remarks at his second Pennsylvania event of the day, a protester wearing a keffiyeh and a surgical mask stood up and demanded he explain how Harris could be expected to end the war while the U.S. provides Israel with weapons.
Her comments were initially met with groans and boos from rallygoers. One woman shouted, “Aw, come on!”
But Clinton said he would address her concerns later in his speech, adding that her question was fair. He began by detailing peace negotiations he led near the end of his second term, negotiations that fell apart at the last moment when, he said, the Palestinian leadership backed away from the agreement. The political realities in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza have changed considerably since then, he said.
“We’re going to have to build it again,” Clinton said. “The reason you should support Kamala Harris is not because she has a detailed plan, and she can’t have one. This thing was shattered in a million pieces [after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack], and the facts are different. … It’s the hardest thing in the world, but I know one thing. I think we agree on this: We can’t kill our way out of this.”
Clinton said Trump was likely to worsen the situation by being too favorable to the Israeli government and empowering “the most dogmatic and authoritarian parts of” it.
“I did know a lot about this,” he said. “I did everything I could to fix it. I wanted it fixed. It should have been fixed. It was a mistake not to take the deal. I have had other Arab leaders, who want privacy out of respect, call me and apologize for not trying to force them to take the deal.”
“Here’s the thing about it: We could be celebrating 25 years of peace between Israel and the Palestinian state,” he continued. “I can’t tell you how many nights since the last October I’ve had trouble sleeping because I think about what it could have been.”
Turning to the election, Clinton said the choice between Trump and Harris is going to occur “without regard to our ability to influence” the ongoing conflict.
“So you have to pick,” he said. “If you want peace there and you want it to be fair to both sides and lead to security for both sides, you have to pick the person that you think is most fair-minded and most likely to achieve that. I wish I could give you a more satisfying answer, but I can’t.”