Hillary Clinton’s actions on Israel: a timeline

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Sen. Bernie Sanders is surging in the polls, but Hillary Clinton has long been the front-runner for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential race. If elected, how would U.S.-Israel relations fare under her watch? To gain insight into the prospect of a Clinton administration for the Jewish state, JNS.org looks back—in reverse chronological order—at her words, policies, and relationships as they relate to Israel over the course of the various stages of her political career.

Secretary of State and 2016 Presidential Candidate

2016

In the latest Democratic presidential debate, Clinton disagrees with an assertion by Sanders that “what we’ve got to do is move as aggressively as we can to normalize relations with Iran.” While Clinton expresses that she is “very proud” of the newly implemented nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, she cautions, “We’ve had one good day over 36 years, and I think we need more good days before we move more rapidly—before more normalization.” Israeli leaders across the political spectrum have opposed the Iran deal over security concerns.

2015

In November, Clinton appoints Earl F. Hilliard, a former House of Representatives member who blamed an election defeat on “Jewish interests” and the “Jewish media,” to her presidential campaign’s Alabama leadership team. Hilliard was considered one of the most vocal opponents of Israel in Congress while he represented Alabama in the House from 1993-2003.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Clinton and her campaign team “have regularly reached out to opponents of the Iran deal in recent weeks, including American Jewish leaders. The outreach to the Jewish community appears to be working. A number of Jewish leaders said they remained deeply concerned about the agreement, but said Mrs. Clinton wasn’t facing the same type of criticism as Mr. [Barack] Obama.”

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