'Not as hopeful as I want to be': Barack Obama warns Israeli right-wing shift threatens peace

Former US president Barack Obama spoke at the O2 Arena in Belfast on Wednesday after accepting an honorary doctorate from Queen's University. Obama says aliens are real: 'They're real, but I haven't seen them & they're not in Area 51' Obama spoke with Irish journalist Susan McKay, and they discussed a number of issues, including protecting democracy and the situation in the Middle East. Obama said he was "not as hopeful as I want to be in the short term" given the "aftermath of what's happened in Gaza and the nature of political changes that have taken place in Israel," when asked how peace could come to the region. "Right now, I think that the anger, the strengthening of right-wing forces inside of Israel, the settler movement, the constant changing of the facts on the West Bank, the continued suffering that's taking place in Gaza," he said. "I think the hardening of attitudes inside of Israel after October 7 means that we have to probably work for a genuine cessation of violence and relief for the people of Gaza as a step, then to even talk about the kinds of long-lasting peace that you described earlier, and it pains me, and it should pain everyone." "And the sense of grievance on either side feeds on itself to the point where, 'I cannot even see that other person', and it will justify anything." Obama told the crowd that people need to "rediscover what's the story we tell about how we're going to live together, and see each other, and recognise each other, and disagree, aand yet still care for each other." He talked about the Good Friday Agreement, which helped end IRA terrorism in Northern Ireland, saying it "came about not just because of exhaustion and people being weary of violence." He told students: "The Good Friday Agreement is still a shining example of what can happen when people put aside old wounds and choose peace." "People ask me sometimes how I can still be hopeful. It's an assertion. It's a practice. It is me saying: this is how I prefer to live. I am going to assume the best in people. I am going to be willing to recognise my own flaws and consider how I can be better. I'm going to insist that we can do better than we're doing right now." Suggested articles Obama says Netanyahu pushed hard for Iran action while he was US President | i24NEWS Protesters interrupt Biden's $25 million fundraiser with Obama, Clinton | i24NEWS 2014 Gaza war critical to understanding today's tragedy, says former Netanyahu aide | Mike Wagenheim