Arab and Muslim leaders have called the former US president's comments “insulting” and “counterproductive.”

Former US President Bill Clinton is facing backlash from US Muslims and Arab Americans after he said Israel was “forced” to kill civilians in Gaza and suggested the country was “first” in the Holy Land been – before the Palestinians.

At a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Michigan, a crucial U.S. state with a large Arab and Muslim population that Democrats are trying to win over, Clinton said he understood people's concerns about the bloodshed in Gaza, but said Israel has no choice but to inflict large civilian casualties, even though it is accused of genocide by the International Court of Justice.

“Hamas ensures that they are shielded. They will force you to kill civilians if you want to defend yourself,” Clinton said.

“I will do everything I can to convince people that no matter what side they are on, they cannot murder their way out of this,” he later added.

Since Israel's war on Gaza began, Israeli forces have killed more than 43,000 people in the Palestinian enclave, most of them women and children. A United Nations-backed commission has accused the Israeli military of “crimes against humanity” during the war, including forced starvation and deliberate attacks on civilians, and blamed Palestinian groups for war crimes.

Clinton also sparked controversy when he said the Israelis were “first” in the Holy Land.

“I got news for (Hamas) – (the Israelis) were there first, before their faith existed,” he said, avoiding reference to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were ethnically segregated in 1948, during the war that founded Israel were driven out of their homes.

“Insulting and Islamophobic”

Arab and Muslim-American leaders criticized Clinton for alienating communities whose votes Democrats sought in the close Nov. 5 U.S. election.

Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor of the first Arab-majority city in the U.S., Dearborn, said the comments from Clinton and other Democratic leaders would not advance the party's case in his community.

“When you see the statements of former President Bill Clinton talking about forcing Israel to kill civilians… it becomes extremely frustrating,” Hammoud told Al Jazeera. “When surrogates like Liz Cheney campaign across the state of Michigan and talk about how even Dick Cheney – the war criminal – supports Vice President Harris, is that supposed to be a welcome message to this community?”

Yousef Munayyer, director of the Palestine/Israel program at the Arab Center Washington DC, wrote on social media: “It's hard to imagine a more counterproductive way to convey this message.”

Robert S. McCaw, director of government affairs at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement. “Bill Clinton’s callous and dishonest attempt to justify the Israeli government’s attacks on civilians in Gaza was as offensive as it was Islamophobic.”

Although they traditionally vote Democratic, many Arab Americans are turning away from the party this year, angered by President Joe Biden's unwavering support for Israel amid the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, a position Harris has maintained.

A recent poll suggests more Arab Americans support Republican candidate Donald Trump than Harris, a trend that could prove important in Michigan.

Democrats have been accused of remaining silent in their comments on Israel and the Palestinians, focusing their messages to pro-Palestinian progressives on warning about the dangers of Trump rather than taking action to stop Israel from continuing its wars in the Middle East to prevent the East.

Palestinian-American comedian Amer Zahr, who is running for school board in Dearborn, said it was “baffling” how out of touch the Harris campaign was with the Arab community.

“It's hard to imagine anything more offensive than what Bill Clinton said about us. He invoked the oldest Zionist tropes in a bizarre attempt to convince us to vote for Kamala Harris,” Zahr told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera's Ali Harb contributed to this story from Dearborn, Michigan