Hillary (1998)

It was ten years ago this month (back in May of 1998) that Hillary caused a furor by being the first "administration figure" to call for a Palestinian State.

Judge Judy was, at the time, just a "TV Judge". Hillary Rodham Clinton was, back then, just "the wife" of the President.

Here's a news analysis published at the time.

Friday May 15, 1998
News Analysis: What motivated Hillary's call for Palestinian state?
MATTHEW DORF
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

WASHINGTON -- Did Hillary Rodham Clinton send a message of support for a Palestinian state on purpose?

Speaking during a satellite hookup with teenagers in Switzerland last week, she said "Palestine" or "state" at least seven times.

The White House contends she did not mean to signal a shift in U.S. policy when, in response to a question, the First Lady said, "I think it will be in the long-term interests of the Middle East for Palestine to be a state."

But many Israeli officials and Jewish groups remain unconvinced.

So the statement has set off a fury in Israel and among many American Jews who saw the comment as another way to pressure Israel to make concessions in the peace talks.

...Clinton's statement, if followed through by her husband's administration, would represent a major shift in U.S. policy, which for decades opposed the creation of a Palestinian state.

Only after Israel and the Palestinians signed the Oslo Accords earlier this decade did the United States say that statehood is a matter for negotiations between the parties.

The question is whether that shift was intentional -- even with the White House insisting that she was not speaking for the United States." -more