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Bill Clinton's Comments on Russian Immigrants in Israel Draw Criticism

(CNN) Kevin Flower - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton suggested on Tuesday that Russian immigrants in Israel pose an obstacle to a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians. "An increasing number of the young people in the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] are the children of Russians and settlers, the hardest-core people against a division of the land. This presents a staggering problem. It's a different Israel. Sixteen percent of Israelis speak Russian," he said. Clinton recalled a 2000 conversation he had with then-Israeli Cabinet Minister and former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky in which he asked why Sharansky could not support the Camp David peace proposal he helped broker. Sharansky's response, according to Clinton, was, "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." In Israel, reaction to Bill Clinton's remarks has been extremely critical. Sharansky denied ever making such comments to Clinton and added, "I am particularly disappointed by the president's casual use of inappropriate stereotypes about Israelis, dividing their views on peace based on ethnic origins." Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman noted that Clinton "forgot who turned down his far-reaching offer which demanded painful concessions from Israel's side. It was, in fact, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat."
2010-09-24 09:25:21
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