Former President Bill Clinton urges Trump to defuse Middle East conflict

Former President Bill Clinton is weighing in on the escalating violence between Israel and Iran

urging President Trump to help defuse the crisis, not escalate it. Clinton made the comments during an appearance on The Daily Show with Jordan Klepper

warning against what he called, quote, constant killing, as Donald Trump considers U.S. military

involvement in support of Israel's attempts to destroy Iran's nuclear program. Trump has been

meeting with his national security team this week while urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu to keep going with the Israeli offensive against Iran. Clinton, however

is calling for diplomacy, something he pursued in 2000 when he hosted Israeli and Palestinian

leaders at Camp David. While he agrees Iran should not obtain a nuclear weapon

he says avoiding war must be a priority. I think we should be trying to defuse it

and I hope President Trump will do that. I hope anybody there will do that

We've got to stop. We got to convince our friends in the Middle East that we stand with them and try to protect them But choosing undeclared wars in which the primary victims are civilians who are not politically

involved one way or the other, just want to live decent lives, is not a very good solution

Do I think that we have to try to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon? I do. I tried at that

And we had some success, 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

Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama issued his own warning during a radio appearance in Connecticut, raising concerns about the state of democracy

Without naming President Trump directly, Obama said the current administration is flirting with behavior that resembles an autocracy

So far, no response from the White House or from Trump himself. For more unbiased updates, download the Straight Arrow News app or go to san.com