Word: clintone
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...Arriving in Israel during this time of political flux, Clinton could not hope to accomplish anything beyond reminding Israelis that the new Obama Administration intends to pursue the two-state peace plan between Israelis and the Palestinians. During her 36-hour stay in Israel, Clinton said that a two-state solution was "in Israel's best interests" and that it was "inescapable" and "inevitable...
...much new there. The Bush Administration had pushed in the same direction, albeit with a lot less vigor. But Clinton's timing was crucial. Netanyahu, who is likely to be Israel's next Premier, opposes the idea of giving the Palestinians their own state, so Clinton's remarks are a warning that Washington expects right winger Netanyahu to abide by peace accords signed by previous Israeli governments. (Netanyahu says he believes in an "economic peace" with the Palestinians, but Clinton made it clear in talks with Israeli officials that a political solution must come first...
...During Bush's second term, Clinton's predecessor at the State Department, Condoleezza Rice, clocked more than 20 visits to Israel, slogging between Jerusalem and Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, with little to show for her efforts. That same fate may await Clinton. Her only hope is to convince Israelis that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is moderate but weak, can never sell peace to his people unless Israel, as a first step, removes some Jewish settlements and army checkpoints from inside the Palestinian territories. (See pictures of Ramallah under siege...
...Tuesday, Clinton met with Abbas to reaffirm Washington's support for the creation of a Palestinian state. But Clinton's aides had briefed her on Abbas' woes: nearly half his domain - Gaza - remains in the grip of Islamists Hamas, and even in his West Bank stronghold, his popularity has taken a dive for his failure to gain any concessions on the issue of Israeli settlements...
...Clinton did make two remarkable departures from the Bush Administration's Middle East policy. She urged Israel to open the border crossings to Gaza, the Palestinian coastal enclave, to allow in more humanitarian relief for the 1.5 million people there who are reeling under the impact of a 22-day Israeli assault that ended in January. Until its last days, the Bush Administration not only had backed Israel's offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza but had also supported a punishing, 19-month economic blockade of the territory. At an international donor conference in Egypt on Monday, Clinton pledged...