Barney Frank: “I agree and I have to say, again, I think people need to understand as they contemplate what Israel has been doing that…”

“I agree and I have to say, again, I think people need to understand as they contemplate what Israel has been doing that for a very long time there was not a willingness to have a two-state solution in the Arab world. The rejection of a two-state solution came from the Arab world. I had hoped we had reached a period where there was now a willingness in the Arab nation to have a two-state solution. We know there was for a while, very actively in the Israeli government. Prime Minister Sharon to his credit has said he is still ultimately for that. It in effect invoked that favorite Nixon-going-to-China metaphor. And Prime Minister Sharon has said, given my background I could get the Israeli people to accept some things that maybe other people do not. We should be clear that includes, it has to include, telling people who live in settlements in Gaza and in much of the West Bank that they cannot continue to live under Israeli rule. We talk about the dismantlement of the settlements. Settlements do not have to be dismantled, but people who live there have to be told that they are now going to be Palestinian citizens. And it was Menachem Begin who did that. Menachem Begin who dismantled the settlement. I was at the settlement that was dismantled in Yamit in the Sinai and met with people there. So that can be painful. It has to be done. It does not mean every inch. It does not mean that you do not count security. But it is important for us to do both.”