Former U.S. President Bill Clinton told Jewish supporters in Toronto earlier this week that he would fight and die to protect Israel if Iraq or Iran ever invaded.
"The Israelis know that if the Iraqi or the Iranian army came across the Jordan River, I would personally grab a rifle, get in a ditch, and fight and die," Clinton said to cheers at a Hadassah children's charity fund-raising dinner Monday. Jim Kennedy, a spokesman for Clinton, provided the transcript of his comments. Clinton's remarks were first reported in The Toronto Star.
According to AP, Clinton told the crowd of 350 on Monday that the best solution to the Middle East conflict is an interim settlement "to establish a Palestinian state now." Its creation, he conveyed, must be preceded by a timetable and security assurances for Israel. Clinton said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat made "a disastrous mistake" turning down peace offers in the last months of his presidency, but there is still "reason for hope." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
