‘Nobody’s hands are clean’: Obama urges reflection amid Israel-Hamas conflict

Former President Barack Obama cautioned against ignoring the complexities of the Israel-Hamas war, warning that “all of us are complicit.”

“If you want to solve the problem, then you have to take in the whole truth. And you then have to admit nobody’s hands are clean, that all of us are complicit to some degree,” he said in an excerpted interview with Pod Save America released Saturday.

Reflecting on his presidency, Obama posed the question, “Well, was there something else I could have done?”

The former president argued that it was important to acknowledge multiple seemingly contradictory truths: Hamas’ actions were “horrific,” but “the occupation and what’s happening to Palestinians” were also “unbearable.”

Obama previously spoke out on the conflict, saying in a statement that any actions by Israel that ignore the human cost of the war against Hamas “could ultimately backfire.”

President Joe Biden has strongly supported Israel in the conflict, providing significant military assistance. However, the administration recently called for humanitarian pauses and warned against inflicting outsized harm on Palestinian civilians.

The full Obama interview will be released next week, according to Crooked Media, a company founded and staffed by former members of the Obama administration.