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Here is the one mentioned in the tweet: https://www.npr.org/2023/09/24/1201381201/an-israeli-military-raid-has-killed-two-palestinians-in-the-west-bank

President Clinton criticized Israel yesterday for creating an obstacle to peace with its new campaign to encourage Jewish settlement in the West Bank, and accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government of trying to unilaterally resolve an issue that Israel had earlier agreed to settle in talks with the Palestinians.

Clinton's rebuke represented the strongest criticism he has made of Israel since Netanyahu took office last June pledging to strengthen Israel's presence in the West Bank.

The criticism from Clinton - known here and in the region as a steadfast backer of Israel - came on the same day several former U.S. secretaries of state, national security advisers and Middle East negotiators, using considerably more blunt language, wrote Netanyahu that expanding the settlements "Would be strongly counterproductive" and "Could halt progress made by the peace process over the last two decades." Israel threw the future of the Middle East peace process into a new season of tension and doubt last week with its decision to reinstate financial subsidies to Jews building homes and businesses in the West Bank, where Palestinians hope to create a permanent homeland.

At a news conference, Clinton said the future of the West Bank should be decided in talks with the Palestinian Authority - as Israel had agreed in 1995, before Netanyahu came to power with his hard-line approach toward Israel's historic adversary.

Asked if he considered new settlements an "Obstacle to peace," Clinton responded: "Absolutely." But he added that he was pleased that Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat spoke on Sunday - "That's a good thing; better than not talking" - and urged the two sides to close their stalled negotiations regarding Israel's redeployment from the West Bank city of Hebron.

Shultz said he wished Israel "Wouldn't be so aggressive about the settlements." Netanyahu's spokesman, David Bar-Illan, confirmed Israel had received the letter.

"These eight people were known as not the most friendly to Israel to say the least," he told Israel's Army radio, in remarks picked up by AP. "Israel's real friends not only refused to sign this letter but are expressing their support for our policies all the time." Clinton's Israel remarks came at a joint news conference after meetings yesterday with European Commission President Jacques Santer and Prime Minister John Bruton of Ireland, who holds the rotating European Union presidency.

Europe, as well as Canada, is adamantly against Clinton's decision last summer to sign the Helms-Burton law.

Clinton signed the bill in August, but with a waiver delaying the effective date for lawsuits by six months.

More recently, administration officials have called the settlements a "Complicating factor." CAPTION: Clinton, with Irish Prime Minister John Bruton, at news conference.

Helms-Burton Act

The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law 104–114, 110 Stat. 785, 22 U.S.C. §§ 6021–6091 is a United States federal law which strengthens and continues the United States embargo against Cuba. It extended the territorial application of the initial embargo to apply to foreign companies trading with Cuba, and penalized foreign companies allegedly "trafficking" in property formerly owned by U.S. citizens but confiscated by Cuba after the Cuban revolution. It also covers property formerly owned by Cubans who have since become U.S. citizens. The Act is named for its original sponsors, Senator Jesse Helms, Republican of North Carolina, and Representative Dan Burton, Republican of Indiana. It was passed by the 104th United States Congress on March 6, 1996, and enacted into law by the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, on March 12, 1996.