While the FBI’s decision to reopen the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified government documents on a private email server dominated news coverage of the race this weekend, another revelation is raising eyebrows in Israel and the Arab world.
On Friday, an audio recording of a September 5th, 2006 meeting between Mrs. Clinton and staff members of the Jewish Press was made public.
The recording was made while then-Senator Clinton was in the midst of her reelection campaign to the US Senate in New York.
As part of her campaign efforts, Clinton met with various journalists, including Eli Chomsky and a second member of the Jewish Press staff.
The 45-minute long recording has never been played since 2006, says Chomsky, who released the recording to the Observer.
Among other topics, Clinton addressed the Palestinian Authority’s legislative election earlier that year, in which Hamas trounced the PLO bloc, bringing the Gaza-based Islamist faction to power for the first time in the body’s existence.
Clinton chided then-President George W. Bush for his handling of the matter, saying that no elections should have been held in the Palestinian Authority. Bush had been an advocate of elections in the Palestinian Authority, hoping that they would open the door to reform and moderation.
Senator Clinton then added that if elections were to be held in the Palestinian Authority, the United States must determine the result from the outset.
“I do not think we should have pushed for an election in the Palestinian territories,” said Clinton. “I think that was a big mistake. And if we were going to push for an election, then we should have made sure that we did something to determine who was going to win.”