Portrait of Hillary Clinton
Politician · country
Wikipedia (opens in new tab)

Hillary Clinton on Palestine

Pro-Israel policy supporter (strong)

TL;DR

Hillary Clinton historically supported strong US-Israel ties, while also backing a two-state solution for Palestinians.

Key Points

  • As a senator in 2006, she backed a resolution opposing perceived Palestinian "Terrorism" and praised Israeli bombardments of Lebanon and Gaza.

  • In 2015, she wrote a letter condemning the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and sought advice on making its counter a priority.

  • She recently claimed that young Americans' opposition to Israel is driven by 'pure propaganda' and 'totally made up' videos on social media like TikTok.

Summary

Hillary Clinton's long-standing position regarding Israel and Palestine has generally been one of strong support for Israel, rooted in her tenure as Senator and Secretary of State. She has a documented history of supporting legislation that entrenched Israel's occupation and actively worked to condemn the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. As Secretary of State, she was instrumental in enforcing the policy of maintaining "no daylight" between the United States and Israel, while also publicly affirming support for a two-state solution.

More recently, her focus has shifted to the perception of the conflict, asserting that young people’s opposition to Israel stems from consuming one-sided propaganda on social media platforms like TikTok, rather than historical context. Clinton stated that she finds it difficult to have a reasonable discussion with younger demographics due to this perceived misinformation. Her critics argue this framing dismisses the documented evidence of violence and serves to defend a political agenda over acknowledging the reality of the situation. [cite:2,cite:3,cite:4]

Key Quotes

“We have to do a better job of talking through the importance of supporting Israel and Israel's security in a way that crosses generations,”

Frequently Asked Questions

Hillary Clinton's public stance has historically favored a strong US-Israel relationship while also supporting the framework of a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. Her past actions as a lawmaker and Secretary of State reflect deep alignment with Israeli security interests. More recently, she has criticized the influence of social media on young people's views of the conflict.

While the core commitment to a two-state solution appears maintained, her public rhetoric has shifted in recent commentary. She has focused heavily on countering what she perceives as misinformation from social media sources regarding recent events. Her historical record, however, shows consistent support for pro-Israel legislation.

Hillary Clinton stated that younger generations are turning against Israel because they consume misinformation, particularly short-form videos on platforms like TikTok, which she described as 'pure propaganda.' She expressed that this makes having a 'reasonable discussion' with them very difficult due to a lack of historical context.