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Tony Blair Praises Clinton’s Work on Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks

Hillary Clinton’s activity as U.S. Secretary of State has come under scrutiny in recent days, with Donald Trump accusing her of ‘Third World’ corruption after revelations that many of her meetings as America’s top diplomat were with Clinton Foundation donors.

“If our Secretary of State can be bought, or bribed, or sell or trade government favors, then the whole American system is threatened,” the Republican presidential nominee said during a campaign rally in Ohio on Tuesday. “America can never elect a candidate who, like Hillary Clinton, did government favors for those giving her family and her foundation massive amounts of cash.”

Clinton has also come under fire for her role in laying the groundwork for the Iranian nuclear deal after the White House acknowledged that the $400 million cash payment to the regime in Tehran was contingent on Iran releasing American hostages.

But in at least one area Clinton earned high praise from the former Quartet Middle East envoy – for her dedicated work on mediating peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

In an interview with Politico’s Glenn Thrush on his podcast “Off Message,” former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he has “huge regard” for Clinton’s work on the issue. “I worked very closely with Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state,” he said.  “I was handling parts of the Middle East peace process at that time. And, you know, I’ve got a huge regard for her. I mean, I think she is an outstandingly capable and decent person.”

“You know, I’ve worked with her really very closely over that, on very tricky issues, where the politics was extremely delicate, and where, you know, there were many different and contradictory currents,” Blair added.

On the campaign trail, Clinton boasts about being the only U.S. mediator in the past seven years who managed to get Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to sit at one table to negotiate a peace settlement. In a video aired at the Democratic National Convention last month, several Israeli officials praised Clinton’s leadership skills as secretary of state.

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