Clinton, Rabin and King Hussein
Clinton, Rabin and King HusseinIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Former US president Bill Clinton said Saturday that “if Yitzchak [Rabin] had not been murdered, I believe we would have achieved peace in three years' time, and created cooperation between Israel, Palestine and Lebanon.”

Clinton added: “In the past 14 years, not a single week has passed in which I did not think of Yitzchak Rabin, and missed him very much.” 

Clinton, who landed in Israel Saturday evening, is a guest of the Saban Forum which is being held for the sixth straight year in Jerusalem. Besides Clinton, participants from the US will include California governor Arnold Schwartzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will address the forum, as will Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni and Israel Bank Governor Stanley Fischer. 

Defense Minister Barak met with Clinton Saturday evening for about thirty minutes and discussed several subjects, including Iran's nuclear program and negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.