Clinton on the Peace Process: Palestinians Rejected Offers — In His Own Words
In multiple documented statements, former U.S. President Bill Clinton — who hosted the 1993 Oslo Accords signing and convened the 2000 Camp David Summit — said that the Palestinians rejected offers of Gaza, 97% of the West Bank, and a capital in East Jerusalem at Camp David (2000), that Yasser Arafat was responsible for the failure, and that he and his negotiators were "killed" trying to make peace. These statements come from the person with the most direct knowledge of the negotiations.
Bill Clinton presided over the Oslo Accords (1993) and organized the Camp David Summit in July 2000, the most advanced peace negotiation in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The negotiations ultimately failed. In the years since, Clinton has given multiple documented accounts of what happened — and who was responsible.
What Was Offered at Camp David (2000)
At the Camp David Summit, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak — with Clinton's support — offered:
- Palestinian sovereignty over approximately 91–97% of the West Bank (depending on the final maps)
- Full control of Gaza
- Palestinian sovereignty over the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, including the Muslim and Christian quarters of the Old City
- Shared arrangements for the Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif
- A capital in East Jerusalem
- International compensation fund for Palestinian refugees
Yasser Arafat rejected the offer and, by the U.S. and Israeli account, made no counter-proposal. The talks collapsed on July 25, 2000. Some U.S. participants, including negotiators Robert Malley and Aaron David Miller, later disputed parts of this account, noting there was no formal written proposal covering all core issues (Juan Cole, quoting Miller).
Clinton's Own Words
May 2016 (campaign event, responding to a heckler):
"I killed myself to give the Palestinians a state. I had a deal they turned down that would have given them all of Gaza, 96 percent of the West Bank..." (Jewish News)
These quotes are from the person who organized and witnessed the negotiations — not an Israeli partisan.
The Taba Talks (January 2001)
Following Camp David, Clinton issued a set of "parameters" — a final American proposal — in December 2000. Both parties accepted them as a basis for negotiations with reservations. Subsequent talks at Taba, Egypt in January 2001 came closest to agreement but ended without a deal as Clinton's term ended (January 20, 2001) and Ehud Barak lost the February 2001 Israeli election.
U.S. officials have said Arafat accepted the parameters with reservations that, in their view, undercut the agreement.
Why This Matters
The Palestinian narrative frequently frames the absence of a Palestinian state as Israel's fault — a product of Israeli settlement expansion, bad faith, or military occupation. The documented record of the Clinton-era negotiations — from the primary source — shows that a Palestinian state was offered and rejected by Palestinian leadership. This does not settle all questions about the subsequent conflict, but it is relevant to any honest account of why the conflict continues.
