Contrasting visions for Mideast

The optimism and enthusiasm that President Bush displays as he marks the 60th anniversary of the foundation of Israel and simultaneously advances his peace initiative in the Middle East are a welcome relief from the gloom and doom of the pundits. It's also a good policy.

As the president said on the eve of his departure for Jerusalem, in an interview with Israeli television reporters: "Now, I'm sure, people say, 'Bush, oh man, he sounds hopelessly idealistic.' But the truth of the matter is, in order for peace to be secure, it's that kind of idealism that has got to prevail."

Speaking about the militant Palestinian organization Hamas, which has seized control of Gaza and constantly fires rockets into southern Israel, he said, "Their vision is to destroy Israel." Then he added, "How about a vision that says we want to coexist with Israel so we can raise our children in peace?"

President Bush's idealism is in contrast to the hatred expressed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who in a speech reported by The Associated Press described Israel as "dying" and said that the 60th anniversary celebrations are an attempt to "save the sinister Zionist regime from death and annihilation." The rhetoric of President Ahmadinejad resembles the ravings of a lunatic. In recent days he has described Israel as a "stinking corpse" and said, "Nations of the region hate this criminal fabricated regime and will uproot this fabricated regime if the smallest and shortest opportunity is given to them."

President Ahmadinejad, who denies the Holocaust and has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" was challenged by President Bush who told Israeli President Shimon Peres, "I suspect if you looked back 60 years ago and tried to guess where Israel would be at that time, it would be hard to be able to project such a prosperous, hopeful land. No question, people would have said, 'We'd be surrounded by hostile forces.' " Israel does face hostility from Iran, which sponsors terrorism against Israel and supports Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, but it is not surrounded by enemies, as it was 60 years ago, when armies from all its Arab neighbors invaded the newborn nation.

The threat that Iran poses to Israel's existence should not be underestimated. The ayatollahs in Tehran appear intent on acquiring nuclear weapons and Iran already has missiles capable of striking Israel. Iran's terrorist allies are also dangerous. While President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert were discussing the U.S. peace initiative in Jerusalem, a rocket fired from Gaza exploded in a shopping mall in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, wounding at least 14 people.

But President Bush's determination to secure an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians for two states living side by side — and his idealism and enthusiasm — can prevail. His vision of a "two-state solution" holds a promise of security for Israel, a state for Palestinians and the removal of a cause and a pretext for violence in the Middle East.