Purim Brings Heightened Security as Mid East Tension Continues

ByABC News
March 31, 2008, 2:40 PM

March 31, 2008 -- This week Opportunity 08 takes a closer look at the Middle East, and how the next president can engage the Middle East constructively.

Fearing further violence, Israel declared a heightened security alert in advance of the Purim holiday. The action comes as Israel seems to be moving closer to a cease-fire with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

Facilitating Arab-Israeli reconciliation is further complicated by sectarian rivalry and the decline of American influence in the region. "The United States now finds itself in the position of demandeur. We no longer can insist, as President Bush's rhetoric suggests, that 'you're either with us or against us'," says Tamara Wittes of the Brookings Institution.

Wittes says the next president will have to build a counter-alliance to the Iranian-Syrian-Iraqi Shi'a-Hezbollah alliance and "correct the tilt in Iran's favor that was the unintended consequence of the misadventure in Iraq."

Just last week, on the eve of the Persian new year, President Bush asserted that Iran has dangerous plans for nuclear weapons. "They've declared they want to have a nuclear weapon to destroy people -- some in the Middle East."

After experts pointed out that Iran has repeatedly insisted that its uranium enrichment program is for civilian electricity, national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe expanded on Bush's remarks, saying, "The president shorthanded his answer with regard to Iran's previously secret nuclear weapons program and their current enrichment and ballistic missile testing."

Ironically, shared worries over Iran's nuclear intentions could provide a new impetus to the progress in the Arab-Israeli peace efforts; Palestinian moderates are as concerned about Iranian interference in their internal affairs as Israel is concerned about Ahmadinejad's nuclear threats.

A proposal outlining a new strategy for constructive engagement in the Middle East is available at Opportunity08.

Opportunity 08 aims to help 2008 presidential candidates and the public focus on critical issues facing the nation, presenting policy ideas on a wide array of domestic and foreign policy questions. The project is committed to providing both independent policy solutions and background material on issues of concern to voters.