Does Bill Clinton read Time magazine?

Bill Clinton talking about January 2001 (via CAMERA):

So a couple of days before I leave office, Arafat says, calls to tell me what a great man I am. And I just said, “No, I’m not. On this I’m a failure, and you made me a failure.”

Now (via memeorandum):

According to Clinton, the Russian immigrant population in Israel is the group least interested in striking a peace deal with the Palestinians. “They’ve just got there, it’s their country, they’ve made a commitment to the future there,” Clinton said. “They can’t imagine any historical or other claims that would justify dividing it.”

To illustrate his view on the Russian immigrant community, Clinton related a conversation he had with Natan Sharansky, the former Soviet dissident turned Israeli parliamentarian, who he said was the only Israeli minister to reject the comprehensive peace agreement Clinton proposed at the Camp David Summit in 2000. The proposal was eventually rejected by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

“I said, ‘Natan, what is the deal [about not supporting the peace deal],'” Clinton recalled. “He said, ‘I can’t vote for this, I’m Russian… I come from one of the biggest countries in the world to one of the smallest. You want me to cut it in half. No, thank you.'”

Clinton responded, “Don’t give me this, you came here from a jail cell. It’s a lot bigger than your jail cell.”

Apparently the former President’s been reading Time Magazine.

The reason that there’s no peace is because the Palestinians aren’t interested. Even if a Palestinian state were created, abiding by the “Clinton parameters,” there’s no guarantee that it would lead to peace. Most Israelis know that, not just Russians. All those years of dealing with Arafat, and Clinton still doesn’t get it.

By the way I notice that Clinton didn’t say that there won’t be peace because 50% of the Palestinian population is ruled by Hamas.

Israel Matzav points out (with a wonderful accompanying graphic):

There are not enough Russian immigrants or ‘settlers’ to explain to Clinton that nearly two thirds of Israeli Jews voted for parties on the Right of the political spectrum (67 out of 110 Knesset seats held by Jewish parties if you back out the ten seats that went to Arab parties, and then back out the 28, 12 and 3 Knesset seats that went to Kadima, Labor and Meretz, respectively in the last election).

Israel has changed in the last ten years. But the Russian immigrants were already here ten years ago. And the increase in the number of ‘settlers’ (we prefer to call them revenants) is the result of high birth rate and virtually no emigration. But it’s not just the Russian immigrants and the revenants who oppose the notion of establishing a ‘Palestinian state.’

Jennifer Rubins wonders:

Maybe he’s competing with Jimmy Carter for the ex-president limelight.

Clueless after all these years.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.