Bill Clinton urges Trump to ‘defuse’ Israel-Iran crisis

Former President Bill Clinton called on President Donald Trump to “defuse” the current conflict between Israel and Iran during an appearance on “The Daily Show” on Tuesday.

So far, the U.S. has stayed out of direct action in the conflict, but it has helped Israel shoot down missiles from Tehran.

There are some indications, however, that the Trump administration could move to get more directly involved in the conflict.

While the former president expressed skepticism about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump’s intentions regarding peace in the Middle East, he urged the current president to calm the situation and end the “outright constant killing of civilians.”

“First of all — they’re not talking about negotiating peace in the Middle East because the Israelis have no intention of… under Prime Minister Netanyahu, of giving the Palestinians a state. And now, they’re too divided and crushed to organize themselves to achieve it,” Clinton said.

He continued, maintaining that Trump agrees with Netanyahu in believing that the Palestinians “shouldn’t have a state.”

However, he added that neither leader wants to trigger a full-scale regional disaster.

“Mr. Netanyahu has long wanted to fight Iran because that way he can stay in office forever and ever. I mean, he’s been there most of the last 20 years,” the former president said.

“But I think we should be trying to defuse it, and I hope President Trump will do that.”

Clinton emphasized the importance of the U.S. protecting its allies in the region, while simultaneously advocating for restraint.

“We have to convince our friends in the Middle East that we’ll stand with them and try to protect them,” he stated.

“But choosing undeclared wars in which the primary victims are civilians, who are not politically involved, one way or the other, who just want to live decent lives, is not a very good solution.”

Clinton conceded that the U.S. needs to try and stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but again stressed the importance of saving innocent lives in the region.

“Do I think that we have to try to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon? I do,” he declared.

“But we don’t have to have all this outright constant killing of civilians who can’t defend themselves, and they just want a chance to live.”

Fox News’ Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.