Clinton sees hope to 'work through' Mideast crisis

Sat Jan 28, 1:54 PM ET

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Former U.S. president Bill Clinton on Saturday praised Israel's "shrewd" response to a shock win by Hamas in Palestinian elections and urged the militants to act responsibly once in power.

Asked if he believed Hamas could recognize Israel, having advocated its destruction until now, Clinton said: "I think there's a way to work through this, yes. I think there's a way to get them into that, I mean I hope there is."

He told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland: "There will be lots of opportunities here. Hamas has got a lot of ways they can reach out to find a responsible, non-violent, middle ground and try to trigger an ongoing peace process if that's what they wish to do."

Hamas' victory over the long-dominant Fatah in this week's polls sent shockwaves through the Middle East and beyond, prompting President George W. Bush to rule out U.S. aid to a Hamas government unless it renounced violence and reversed its stance on Israel.

Clinton, who worked intensively on the peace process and narrowly failed to clinch a historic Israeli-Palestinian accord toward the end of his presidency, backed the response of Bush and Israeli interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"Give this thing a chance to shake out a little bit. The Israelis have been quite measured about what they've said. Mr Olmert's been very shrewdly careful about what he said. I think we're in a wait and see mode now. Maybe Hamas itself will make a move in the next few days," Clinton said.

"I understand where the president (Bush) is coming from, saying 'well, you can't expect me to do business with someone who's committed to the destruction of Israel', I get that," he said.

"It's a pretty hard sell to tell an American taxpayer that you're going to fund a government committed to the destruction of Israel when we're supposed to be for peace."

Clinton said Hamas had fought a "very smart" election, won power fairly and now had to act responsibly in power.

"This is a way they can get there quickly. They can simply say they've inherited the mantle of national leadership and they are duty bound as other governments ... to follow the (peace) commitments of their predecessors," he said.

"If your country makes a bilateral commitment, you don't disavow it just because you weren't part of it."

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