3 Takeaways From Hillary's 'Hard Choices' Speech

Hillary Clinton has been making the media rounds lately in anticipation of her forthcoming memoir, Hard Choices, to talk about just that — tough decisions. During a Clinton's recent speech before the American Jewish Committee, she addressed some of the toughest situations she faced during her tenure as Secretary of State, including Israel-Palestine peace negotiations and placing sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. These situations — as well as her overall track record as Secretary of State — will no doubt come into play if Clinton chooses to run in the 2016 presidential race.

Although Benghazi is what right-wing pundits and legislators tend to focus on when debating her foreign policy record, Clinton remained mum on the diplomatic scandal. There's no word yet on how many pages of Hard Choices will be devoted to Benghazi, but previous reports have revealed the book will include her reflections on the raid to kill Osama bin Ladin, and her efforts to ease diplomatic relations with Myanmar.

Hard Choices is slated to hit bookstores June 10. In the meantime, for a taste of what we'll find in the memoir, here are the main takeaways from Clinton's most recent speech:

1. You Need To Collaborate To Get Things Done

There may have been a lot of talk about these two rivals, but Clinton and President Obama came together when it counted — the Iran nuclear conflict. Clinton said she and Obama "tore up the playbook" in order to gain international support to apply sanctions on Iran.

We decided to use both engagement and pressure to present Iran's leaders with a hard choice of their own: comply and reap the benefits of improved relations or refuse and face increased isolation and ever more painful consequences. We believed that the effort of seeking engagement would actually strengthen our hand if Iran rejected our initiatives. The rest of the world would see that the Iranians were the intransigent ones, not us.

2. Peace Is Not Easy To Come By

Although keeping the peace between international communities was one of her top priorities as Secretary of State, it was one of the toughest job requirements — especially when it came to negotiations between Israel and Palestine:

Having worked, cajoled, and implored my way through three rounds of direct, face-to-face negotiations, I can tell you that hard choices are exactly what it will take to achieve a just and lasting peace.

Clinton didn't give too much away in just how she was able to foster peaceful negotiations between the two states, but she did say the biggest challenge is motivating the "political will on both sides."

3. But She's Still Very, Very Pro-Israel

It could be because she was delivering a speech in front of the American Jewish Committee, but Clinton made sure there was no chance anyone would mistake her position on the Israel-Palestinian conflict:

America’s commitment to Israel will never waver. That is not a hard choice

She added that Hamas will have to recognize Israel's right to exist, while also letting it slip that her book will include even more thoughts on her pro-Israel position and the "rock solid" relationship she fostered with the Jewish state.