Obama: ‘Tough’ talk needed on Mideast

A two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict requires outreach and a “tough discussion,” Sen. Barack Obama said. “We have to be very hardheaded and clear-eyed about the dangers that exist throughout the Middle East in those who seek to perpetrate terror against the United States as well as Israel,” Obama (D-Ill.) said Tuesday at the National Jewish Democratic Council’s Washington conference, where he appeared with every other Democratic candidate for the presidency. “But we also have to recognize that the status quo is not inevitable, that we can aspire to something greater, and that if we can find partners on the other side who are committed to recognizing Israel and are committed to renouncing violence, that we have the need to reach out to them and that we should want to have that difficult, tough discussion, but nevertheless have that discussion about how we’re going to arrive at what I think everybody wants, which is two states living side by side in peace and security.”