Netanyahu using Iran war to stay in power 'forever': Clinton

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
20 Jun 2025 13:52
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Former US President Bill Clinton accused Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu of fueling conflict with Iran to prolong his grip on power, warning that civilians are paying the price for escalating rhetoric and undeclared wars.

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Former US President Bill Clinton on stage discussing his book "The First Gentlemen" at The 92nd Street Y on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in New York (Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP)

As the United States inches closer to a potential military confrontation with Iran, former US President Bill Clinton has publicly criticized the Israeli leadership's long-standing push for war and warned of the devastating humanitarian costs of further escalation in West Asia.

In an interview aired Thursday on The Daily Show, Clinton took direct aim at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, suggesting that calls for war with Iran have become a political tool for maintaining power. "Netanyahu has long wanted to fight Iran because that way he can stay in office forever and ever. I mean, he's been there most of the last 20 years," Clinton said.

Clinton also drew attention to a core issue often ignored in mainstream Western discourse: the systematic denial of Palestinian statehood. "They're not talking about negotiating peace in the Middle East because the Israelis have no intention of… under Prime Minister Netanyahu, of giving the Palestinians a state. And now, they're too divided and crushed to organize themselves to achieve it," he noted.

While Clinton stated he supports non-proliferation, he condemned the bloodshed inflicted by US and Israeli operations on defenseless civilians. "Do I think that we have to try to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon? I do," he said. "But we don't have to have all this outright constant killing of civilians who can't defend themselves, and they just want a chance to live."

Nuclear hysteria

Clinton's remarks come at a moment of growing turmoil in Washington. Reports indicate that President Donald Trump is actively weighing a strike on Iran's Fordow nuclear facility, a peaceful enrichment site long monitored by international bodies. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the US has the "bunker buster" bombs to reach it, yet he has remained non-committal. "I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do," Trump said, leaning into ambiguity rather than diplomacy.

His rhetoric has not only raised alarm abroad but is also sparking backlash at home. Key figures within Trump's own MAGA base, including Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Charlie Kirk, have accused him of betraying his long-held "America First" stance. Carlson, speaking on the War Room podcast, stated, "You're not going to convince me that the Iranian people are my enemy." Greene warned that interventionist policies "put America last" and "lead to our destruction." Kirk, meanwhile, cautioned that Trump risks "a massive split among MAGA" if he proceeds with deeper involvement in another Middle Eastern conflict.

Trump, dismissing the internal dissent, lashed out by calling Carlson "kooky" and doubling down on his position: "IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!"

Despite Iran's repeated rejection of nuclear weapons, a conclusion echoed by US intelligence and international agencies, Washington continues to escalate under the guise of non-proliferation. As Clinton emphasized, "Choosing undeclared wars in which the primary victims are civilians, who are not politically involved, one way or the other, who just want to live decent lives, is not a very good solution."