Hillary Clinton calls for tougher US position if Israelis reelect Netanyahu

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday urged a tougher American stance if Israelis reelect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

"So if the Israelis want to vote for that again, then I think the United States has to take a very tough position," Clinton told broadcaster MS Now, referring to Israel’s Oct. 27 general elections.

Clinton pointed to media reports saying that Netanyahu got a warning from the United Arab Emirates before Oct. 7, 2023 about Hamas’ plans to carry out an attack.

Netanyahu either did not believe the warning or thought about how he could use the scenario to his advantage so he could "come down hard," which "would enhance his position," she said.

"This was a failure of leadership. This was a failure of protecting the people of Israel," Clinton said.

"I have said repeatedly, I love Israel and I hate Netanyahu's government and his policies,” she said.

“I love America and I hate Trump's government and policies," she added about President Donald Trump, her opponent in the 2016 election, which she lost, setting Trump up for his first term in office.

Clinton also said it could really make a difference if Netanyahu was no longer premier: "I would hope that a new prime minister would crack down on settler violence in the West Bank. There should be no impunity for that kind of violence.”

She warned that letting people having that level of violence in a society is "unfair and wrong" for the Palestinians while also "very dangerous" to Israel.

"Anytime you let people have that level of violence in a society, that you don't stop, that creeps into the whole society," Clinton said.

Clinton’s remarks come amid escalating attacks by the Israeli army and Israeli occupiers in the occupied West Bank since the start of the genocide in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.

Palestinian authorities have documented killings, arrests, home demolitions, attacks on mosques and vehicles, destruction of agricultural land, restrictions on farmers’ access to their property, and forced displacement.

Palestinians warn that Israeli operations and occupier violence are paving the way for the formal annexation of the West Bank, which would undermine the establishment of a Palestinian state under UN resolutions.