It is hard to imagine that any president could do as much damage to the cause of peace in the Middle East than President Bush.  Whoever assumes the office in 2009 will have to clean up a huge mess under difficult circumstances.  Church leaders wrote to the current U.S. presidential candidates this past week asking them all to commit to the effort.  ENS reports:

A coalition of U.S. church leaders has called on candidates hoping to stand for the 2008 U.S. presidential election, to support stronger diplomatic efforts to promote a Middle East peace that addresses "the basic needs of both Israelis and Palestinians."

Clergy and laity from the UCC-supported Churches for Middle East Peace, a Washington-based group, wrote to nine candidates from the Republican Party, and eight from the Democratic Party, to urge them, if elected as U.S. president, to support a "two-state peace between Israel and the Palestinians as a top priority."

Churches for Middle East Peace is a coalition of 22 Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant church bodies and organizations, including the UCC, that support a two-state resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The signers said U.S. leadership was needed to help a stalled Middle East peace process, and also to restore "the goodwill that the United States once enjoyed in the region."

Visit Churches for Middle East Peace for more information.

Unfortunately, much of the rhetoric from candidates in both parties on this issue has been unhelpful.