Subject: National Unity Coalition in Support of Israel
Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 00:25:10 +0000
To: "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
To: (IL/ROOT & BRANCH ASSOCIATION, LTD.), rb@rb.org.il
From: "Root & Branch Association, Ltd." <rbranch@netvision.net.il>
Subject: R&B INFORMATION SERVICES: "In D.C. - Rallies and Clinton's
War of Attrition" by Susan Rosenbluth
R&B INFORMATION SERVICES: "In D.C. - Rallies and Clinton's War of
Attrition" by Susan Rosenbluth
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 2, 1998, Root & Branch: While waiting for Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to show up at the Mayflower Hotel on Jan.
19, Michael Gress, pastor of the Lion of Judah Fellowship of Reston,
Virginia, recalled a story Bill Clinton often told in 1992 while running for the Presidency: On
his deathbed, Mr. Clinton's pastor told the then-young man, "If you ever
become President, and you let Israel down, I will never forgive you."
One of Pastor Gress' congregants held a sign declaring: You've let your
pastor down, Mr. Clinton.
Mr. Gress and his people were at the hotel to participate in a rally called
by the National Unity Coalition for Israel (NUC). The NUC is an umbrella
group consisting of some 200 pro-Israel Jewish and Christian organizations
representing many Americans. Most of the Jewish organizations are
right-wing, and most of the Christian groups are
Evangelical. Although the group had only a week to plan the rally, it
became evident early in the afternoon that more than double the number of
people who would fit into the hotel's grand ballroom had shown up.
While the American media portrayed the rally as consisting of Christian
political enemies of the President, in fact, half the leaders and
organizers of NUC are Jewish. Many of them Orthodox.
Posters
Standing near Mr. Gress, a member of another Christian delegation to the
rally from Florida held up a poster which featured a big picture of Paula
Jones. In a reference to Mr. Clinton's sexual scandals, the caption quoted
a verse from the Bible: "Who curses Israel, I will curse." (Genesis 12:3)
While several thousand people waited to get into the rally, several dozen
Jewish protesters outside the hotel showed up with a live sheep and paraded
around Connecticut Avenue proclaiming: "We will not go like sheep to the
slaughter" and "The L-rd is Our Shepherd, not the US State Department."
Some protesters carried placards showing a cartoon image of Messrs. Clinton
and Abdul Rauf el-Codba el-Husseini ("Yasir Arafat"), both wearing Mr.
el-Husseini's signature kaffiyeh. The caption read: "Two of a Kind: Yasir
and Bill at Home in the White House."
The State Department was reportedly furious with the cartoon, especially
since it appeared as a full-page advertisement in both the Washington Times
and the New York Post. Some members of the Conference of Presidents of
Major American-Jewish Organizations, who were in the hotel for a later
meeting with Mr. Netanyahu, blasted the cartoon, calling it racist.
Across the street from the hotel, about a dozen protesters demonstrated
against Mr. Netanyahu.
Our Conviction
Most of the Jews and Christians who showed up at the hotel were there to
participate in the NUC rally. To a man (and woman), they made clear they
believed the President was pressuring Israel to withdraw from land while
not insisting that the PA live up to its commitments. Some of the
literature distributed by the NUC bore an inscription referring to the
as-yet unchanged PLO Charter which still calls for Israel's
destruction: "Our Conviction or Their Covenant."
"It is simply inexplicable that America would demand anything more of
Israel when Arafat has not even tried to live up to his side of the
bargain," said Esther Levens, president of NUC.
Mrs. Levens, a Jewish activist from Kansas, said she and members of her
coalition had come to Washington to tell Mr. Netanyahu that Mr. Clinton is
out of step with the American people, that the vast majority of Americans
support a strong and secure Jewish state, that the President is not holding
all the cards on this issue, and that the Prime Minister does not have to
concede.
The President's attitude sends a clear signal to terrorists, she said:
"You can bomb Jews in Jerusalem and all we will do is fore them to give you
more land."
No Congressmen
The NUC rally was not without its own share of controversy.
Although the program was not billed as an Israeli Embassy event, some of
the organizers said the Embassy had asked them not to include Congressmen
and Senators, who wanted to participate, on the roster of speakers. The
NUC organizers said they believed the Embassy was acting on orders from the
State Department.
In fact, Mr. Netanyahu did meet privately with some Senators and
Congressmen before his summit with Mr. Clinton. He reportedly thanked
House Speaker Newt Gingrich for his support. During a speech in Hollywood
for the entertainment community, Mr. Gingrich was asked his opinion of the
Clinton administration's policy on Israel, including its criticism of Mr.
Netanyahu for not moving faster in the peace process.
Mr. Gingrich said, "For our government to treat Netanyahu as we are doing,
is totally wrong. And for our government to treat Arafat as a moral
equivalent to Netanyahu is totally wrong."
Sen. Brownback
Mr. Netanyahu also met with Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), chairman of the
Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Middle East Affairs. Mr.
Brownback was also highly critical of the recent pressure on Israel by the
Clinton administration.
"It is inappropriate for the US to be demanding that the democratically
elected government of Israel take actions which undermine its security.
The administration must stop pressuring Israel into ceding more land and
making more concessions as long as the Palestinians don't carry through on
their promise to provide security, their part of the bargain struck in
Oslo," he said.
Mr. Brownback was also outraged atf one administration official's comments
that Mr. Netanyahu would be treated like the President of Bulgaria.
Bulgarian President Stoianov will be offered a modest reception on Feb. 10.
"It is outrageous that anyone in the administration would so characterize
the Prime Minister of one of the US strongest allies in the world. Foreign
policy should not be reduced to sound bites, and the administration should
immediately retract this statement and offer Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Stoianov
an apology," said Mr. Brownback.
Answered Prayers
During the rally, Mrs. Levens praised the group for bringing together so
many Christians and Jews united for a single purpose. "When Israel was
embattled," she said, "the Jewish community often wondered where it could
find friends. We prayed for guidance, and the L-rd sent us millions of
American Christian people who love the Jewish people and Israel and have
pledged to stand with us no matter what," she said.
She insisted Mr. Clinton was listening to the wrong people and reading the
wrong polls. "The American people," she said, "agreed more strongly with
those in the Mayflower ballroom than they did with the advice offered by
Sarah Ehrman, the President's liaison to the Jewish community and a Peace
Now advocate. Recently, Ms. Ehrman said that
Palestinian acts of terror were the inevitable response to acts of
provocation, such as continued building in Jerusalem by the Israeli
government."
Mrs. Levens characterized Ms. Ehrman's remarks as justifying the murder of
Jews. "We've heard that routine before," said Mrs. Levens, that the Jews
brought it on themselves."
Statistics
Mrs. Levens pointed to statistics showing that by a margin of three-to-one,
American Jews want Israel to be able to reach its own conclusions in
negotiations with the Arabs rather than following orders from the US. By a
margin of 73 percent to 23 percent, American Jews agreed with Mr. Netanyahu
that terror must end before peace negotiations
can continue.
Calling the Oslo Process, land for nothing, Mrs. Levens said the Israeli in
your face attitude was better than the Arabs behind your back. "That's
where we believe Arafat has gone. He is using Israeli land and weapons to
destroy the Jewish state," she said, adding that the PLO leader went behind
America's back by telling the Moslem conference in Teheran, Iran, that the
Israelis planned to desecrate and destroy the Al-Aksa
Mosque. "He told that lie in Arabic, not in English," said Mrs. Levens.
Agreeing with Mrs. Levens, Janet Parshall, a syndicated Christian radio
talk-show host who served as the rally's Master of Ceremonies, declared
that Mr. Clinton would hear the truth from Abdul Rauf el-Codba el-Husseini
("Arafat") only if he spoke to him in Arabic.
Dr. E. Brandt Gustavson, President of the National Religious Broadcasters,
reminded the audience that Israel and Jerusalem have had a love affair for
3,000 years. Even when Jews were swept away from their land, Jerusalem
held the hearts of her children, he said, noting that Islamic faith-claims
to the Holy City date back to the 7th century CE.
"Jews occupied Jerusalem 1600 years before Islam saw the light of day," he
said.
Mort Klein
Only the Prime Minister himself received greater applause from the crowd
than did ZOA president Morton Klein. He characterized the Palestinian
commitments to the Oslo process as a table with four legs.
The PA, he said, has violated each of them: "The Palestinians were
required to stop terror, but, instead, they have refused to extradite
terrorists or confiscate illegal weapons, and every day in official PA
newspapers and radio reports, there is incitement to terror; the PA was
required to change the covenant which gave Israel no right to exist, but
the PLO map shows only a map of Palestine which subsumes all of Israel; the
PA was required to protect human rights, but there are still torture
chambers in Jericho and Ramallah and those who sell land to Israel are
imprisoned, tortured, and murdered; and they were required to eliminate
official hate speech, but there are still daily calls for holy war and
pronouncements that the intifada is our only option."
"Hate speech against Jews and Israel is everywhere, on Palestinian radio,
in their newspapers, and at their rallies," said Mr. Klein, noting that the
constant calls for jihad came from Mr. Arafat as well as from the supposed
fringe elements. "It was Arafat [Abdul Rauf el-Codba el-Husseini] who told
Arabs in Hebron to have 12 children per family so they could give him 10 to
destroy Israel," said Mr. Klein.
In the Palestinian media, Jews are called stingy Shylocks who spill Arab
blood and spike bubble gum sold to Arabs with the AIDS virus. Recently,
the anti-American rhetoric, which has always been part of the Palestinian
routine, has become ubiquitous. The Palestinians have made no secret of
their support for Saddam Hussein against the US, which they define, along
with Israel, as the enemy who has committed crimes against
humanity. Many commentators on official PLO outlets equate the
relationship of the US and Iraq to that between Israel and the PA.
"Dont pressure your friend, Israel," Mr. Klein warned the President.
"Pressure the enemy of peace, Arafat [Abdul Rauf el-Codba el-Husseini]."
Transfer
Recently, the ZOA initiated a campaign to insist that the PA transfer
identified murderers of Americans to the US for trial. At the rally, Mr.
Klein pointed out that, by a margin of four to one, Americans agree with
this initiative. Further, he said, by the same margin, Americans believe
Jerusalem should remain the undivided capital of
Israel, and by a margin of six to one, Americans support Mr. Netanyahu over
Mr. Arafat.
He decried the State Department policy that seemed to say the
administration is not interested in the hate spewing from the PA media or
the fact that murderers of Americans are still at liberty in the
Palestinian Autonomy. "If all Clinton cares about is Israel's unilateral
withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, it means Clinton does not support Oslo,"
said Mr. Klein.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Dore Gold, who spoke after Mr. Klein, told the
rally that Israel's most important dream was to achieve peace with safe,
defensible borders and with Jerusalem as its capital.
Nullifying the Accords
"Because of the Palestinian violations of the agreements, upon his
election, Mr. Netanyahu could have declared the Oslo process a fraud and
brought it to a close," said Mr. Gold, or, alternatively, he could have
behaved like the previous government and refused to blame the PLO for the
terror even though it was clear they were involved.
Instead, said Mr. Gold, Mr. Netanyahu chose to support the Israeli
consensus. He decided to take an impaired peace process and make it work,
said Mr. Gold, explaining the genesis of the government's doctrine of
reciprocity, which, he said, is not a principle designed to help Israel
escape from the Oslo process. Rather, he said, only
reciprocity could make Oslo work. "If only one side complies and the other
doesn't, the end can only be disaster," he said.
Coupling
Attempts by the Arabs to separate Israel from its natural ally, the US, fly
in the face of the American cold war experience, he said. The US won the
cold war through strength, overcoming the attempts by the former Soviet
Union to separate America from her NATO allies, a process Mr. Gold called
de-coupling.
To assure peace in the Middle East, make sure Israel and the US remain
coupled, he told participants at the rally, adding that those who believe
distancing the US from Israel will result in moving the peace process
further, are wrong. Peace can be achieved only by a close US-Israel
relationship, in which the enemies of peace are distanced, he said.
Although Evangelical leader Jerry Falwell was not scheduled to address the
rally, he was spotted by Mrs. Levens who invited him to come to the
microphone. Calling himself a minister and supporter of Israel for 45
years, he characterized the foreign aid given to Israel as the best
national security investment the US makes in the world.
Citing the Biblical passage that G-d will bless those who bless Israel and
curse those who curse her, Mr. Falwell said he believed the US has been
blessed in proportion to how much we bless Israel.
Standing Ovation
Just as Rev. Falwell was noting that those present represented 70 million
Christians and a few less Jews who were brought together by issues larger
than each group alone, the Prime Minister, his wife, Sara, and the Israeli
contingent walked onto the platform. Mr. Netanyahu received a sustained
five-minute standing ovation from the crowd and hugs and warm handshakes
from speakers on the dais.
Relinquishing the microphone, Mr. Falwell said he loved Israel because he
loved freedom and democracy, and he paid Mr. Netanyahu the highest
complement he could think of. "You're the Ronald Reagan of Israel," he told
the Prime Minister, and the crowd, who obviously agreed, applauded all over
again.
Fatigued and more than a little hoarse, Mr. Netanyahu said it was worth
traveling 12 hours for that ovation. While he thanked everyone on the
dais, he singled out Mr. Klein for his heart-warming friendship and support.
Christian Zionists
As they had all afternoon, the crowd erupted with applause every time Mr.
Netanyahu evoked Jerusalem, which, he said, would never be divided again.
The Prime Minister recalled the idealism and faith of 19th-century
Christian Zionists who, he said, created the groundwork for Jewish
Zionists. "The Christian Zionists came to the holy land with the desire to
see it brought back to life by the one people who could do it,
the Jews," he said.
Insisting that would achieve a just peace, Mr. Netanyahu decried the
depiction of Israel by the Palestinians and their supporters in the media
as usurpers of the land and practitioners of Nazi ideology. "That's how
we're vilified daily," he said, noting that when Israel is cast as the
villain of the Middle East, it does great violence to truth and justice.
The Charter
Explaining his position on reciprocity, he said, "We can't be asked to sign
the next agreement when the last agreement has been violated so
systematically. The Palestinian Charter calling for the destruction of the
State of Israel can be annulled only by convening the Palestinian National
Congress who must then formally go through the motions of tearing up the
document," he said. "It is a legal demand, but also a moral demand," said
Mr. Netanyahu. "How can there be peace when one of the parties has on its
books a contract calling for the other's destruction?"
Mr. Abdul Rauf el-Codba el-Husseini's ("Arafat's") letters saying that the
charter has been amended is insufficient, he said. "They must tear up the
document publicly, in front of the world, and then well know they did
something," he said, noting that it has been four years since the PA
promised to annul their charter. "It's about time," said Mr. Netanyahu.
He also listed other Palestinian commitments which have not been fulfilled,
including fighting terror and extraditing wanted terrorists to Israel for
trial.
Hard To Comply
Mr. Netanyahu said he understood how hard it was to keep agreements,
because he had felt anguish in relinquishing 80 percent of Hebron, "It was
tough for me to do it, but I did it because I keep agreements. They dont,"
he said. "Every grain of soil is saturated with the tears and blood of
generations of Jewish people."
He stressed that the claim that both parties to the Oslo process are not in
compliance is false. We are in compliance, and in exchange for Palestinian
compliance, we would be prepared to consider withdrawing from those less
crucially strategic territories, he said, adding that he would not
jeopardize the security of Israel. "We don't want a photo-op peace, but a
peace for now and for generations," he said.
As he and his contingent left the platform, Jews and Christians joined
together holding a banner with a Star of David chanting, "Not one inch."
Terror Victims
Two family members of Arab-terror victims were part of Mr. Netanyahu's
contingent: Yehudit Shachor, 44, whose son, Ori, and his friend, Ehud
Bachrach, were killed by terrorists as they hiked in Wadi Kelt on July 19,
1995; and Sigal Megidish, 27, whose brother, Uri, was murdered in Wadi Kelt
in 1993, after the accords were signed.
The terrorists responsible for the murder of Mr. Shachor are living freely
in Jericho, having been released from a PA prison after serving one day.
Mr. Megidish's killers are members of the PA police force in Gaza.
Repeated extradition requests for the men submitted to the PA Ministry of
Justice by Israel have been ignored.
In the hallway of the Mayflower, Mrs. Shachor and Ms. Megidish took a
minute to rest in between the NUC rally and the up-coming meeting with the
Conference of Presidents.
"Our purpose in coming is to ask the American administration by what right
are they, who are so zealous in seeking killers of their citizens so long
as they are not in Israel, so anxious for us to concede on this issue. The
killers of our children roam freely within a few kilometers of our homes,
and the Americans press us to forget this and withdraw from more
territory?" said Mrs. Shachor.
She noted that Mr. Netanyahu happily agreed to have her join him on the
trip. This was in contrast, she said, to her experience with former Prime
Minister Shimon Peres, with whom she met when he was about to sign another
agreement with Abdul Rauf el-Codba el-Husseini ("Arafat"). According to
Mrs. Shachor, Mr. Peres told her, "Look, I am here to sign a peace
agreement with Arafat [Abdul Rauf el-Codba el-Husseini]. I can't help you.
Arafat [el-Husseini] is here. Why dont you speak with him about your son?"
Bounced Check
While members of the Conference of Presidents lined up to be admitted to a
meeting room a few doors down from rally, Chuck Jacobs, one of NUCs
organizers, was telling the Christians and Jews still in their seats that
the real estate deal signed on the White House lawn was paid for by a check
certified by the US.
"The PA got Gaza and Jericho first and more redeployment and Hebron, but
all Israel got was a bounced check," he said.
Less than an hour after he addressed the NUC rally, Mr. Netanyahu and his
contingent were ready to take on the Conference of Presidents. "There
won't be any standing ovations here," said one machor as he passed through
the metal detectors and security.
He was wrong. The Prime Minister did receive a standing ovation when he
entered the room, but it lacked endurance and enthusiasm. In general, the
Jewish leaders were prepared for business.
Meeting with Clinton
At the start of the meeting, Mel Salberg, chairman of the Conference of
Presidents, discussed advertisements and letters undertaken by the umbrella
organization in support of Mr. Netanyahu and his position. Earlier that
morning, he said, he and Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice president of the
Conference, had met with Mr. Clinton to discuss what Mr. Salberg called the
shift in the government's attitude. According
to Mr. Salberg, Mr. Clinton said he was still totally committed to the
peace process and supported the concept of compliance. "He said his
support for Israel was unshakable and that the special relationship between
the US and Israel was as strong as ever," said Mr. Salberg, adding that the
government was still committed to preserving Israels military qualitative edge.
In addition, said Mr. Salberg, the President indicated he felt positive
about the up-coming meetings with Messrs. Netanyahu and Abdul Rauf el-Codba
el-Husseini [Arafat], and that he and the Secretary of State enjoyed
working with the Prime Minister.
In an Arutz-7 interview, Mr. Hoenlein said, "While the President wants to
move the process forward, he understands that pressure is not the way to do
that."
David Bar-Illan
Addressing the Conference before the Prime Minister entered the room,
government spokesman David Bar-Illan said Mr. Netanyahu's doctrine of
reciprocity had injected new life into the peace process. "The same 75
percent of the Knesset and the population that accepted the withdrawal from
Hebron last year now insists on one of the joint pillars of the agreement -
reciprocity," he said.
Commenting on Abdul Rauf el-Codba el-Husseini's ("Arafat's") declarations
that the PLO Charter has already been amended, Mr. Bar-Illan said that two
weeks before coming to the US, the Israeli government asked for a copy of
the charter. "We received the old covenant without a single word changed,"
he said, adding that, "in Hebrew, there were even the same old spelling
mistakes."
"The average Palestinian knows nothing has been changed," said Mr. Bar-Illan.
Revolving Door Justice
He noted the press reports crediting the PA with finding a bomb factory in
Nablus. "The PA police did nothing to deter the factory's operation, until
Israel demanded its termination, and then some people were arrested," he
said. The factory, which was known to everyone in Nablus, he said, could
easily have been discovered much earlier, had the PA police been motivated
to stop terror.
Earlier in the week, he said, the PA announced the arrest of two Hamas
members who, they said, were responsible for last summers bombings in
Jerusalem. After a quickie trial, they were sentenced to 15 years in
prison. "Its anybody's bet if they stay in jail for two weeks," said Mr.
Bar-Illan. "If the previous pattern is followed, they wont stay much longer."
Asked why Israel had not closed down Orient House, Mr. Bar-Illan said the
government had stopped the PA's foreign affairs activities in the house,
which is privately owned by Faisal al-Husseini.
Truth Matters
During his brief talk with members of the Conference, Mr. Netanyahu once
again explained his doctrine of reciprocity. For the next treaty to have
meaning, the previous treaty must have meaning, he said.
Explaining that truth matters, he said the commitments made but not kept by
the PA are simple and verifiable. "If they dont fight terror and keep the
promises they made, there will be no peace," he said.
Once again, he said that Israel would have to insist on secure borders
because an Israel that cant defend itself will not be able to live in peace.
Still a Dangerous Neighborhood
"Rather than pretending Israel is part of Western Europe or North America,
Israel understands that, for peace to have a chance, the Jewish state must
be able to deter attacks from the East and the West," he said.
This necessitates buffer zones as well as ways to prevent the entry of
terrorists. He admitted the plan is neither ideal nor completely
satisfactory to his military advisers, but it is a minimum requirement.
"We have a finite amount of area we can cede in exchange for Palestinian
compliance," he said, adding he would prefer to move directly to final
status negotiations. "The amount of land Israel is willing to cede will
allow the Palestinians to govern themselves," he said, "while reserving for
the Jewish state the ability to defend itself."
"I wont jeopardize Israel's security," he said, prompting the members of
the Conference to applaud.
"I'll agree to discuss that territory that is so hard to part from, because
it resonates with our history. Every grain of earth speaks to me. But I'm
prepared painfully to part from the land, provided it doesn't jeopardize
our security," he said.
No Contradiction
Asked by Rabbi Fabian Schoenfeld to explain the seeming contradiction that,
on one hand, the map prepared by Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai implied
he was willing to abandon the community of Beit El, but, a few days later,
it was announced that a new neighborhood would be built in the community.
According to Mr. Netanyahu, the Defense Minister never spoke of dismantling
Beit El. His map, said the Prime Minister, delineated military security
zones as well as areas of national interest, such as those sitting on top
of aquifers which must be preserved in order to assure citizens on the
coast their drinking water.
He then denied that Israel was building new settlements, but it is allowing
for natural growth, which is determined by births, marriages, and relocations.
"We don't direct people to the settlements," he said, admitting there are
subsidies to all Israelis who move to development towns on both sides of
the Green Line. With the cost of housing along the coast increasing, many
young couples are moving elsewhere, he said.
Palestinian Building
Further, he said, despite Palestinian claims that new homes in Judea,
Samaria, and Jerusalem violate the Oslo Agreement, the fact is, such
building is not even addressed by the Accords. "Yitzhak Rabin stood before
the Knesset after he signed the agreement and said proudly that Oslo
precluded neither expanding existing settlements nor building new ones.
We're not building new ones," he said.
The Palestinians, on the other hand, are building illegally in areas in
which Oslo specifically denies them permission to do so, he said. "Israel
won't unilaterally agree to curtail our communities while the Palestinians
build theirs," he said.
The total built-up area used by the Israelis amounts to just one percent of
Judea and Samaria, he said, and the new building about which the
Palestinians are complaining, amounts to just one-tenth of one percent.
"This is the creation of facts on the ground?" he said. "Only in people's
minds. Yes, perception is reality, but reality is also reality."
Threats
He dismissed the Palestinian threat to re-initiate the intifada or
unilaterally to declare a Palestinian State if Mr. Clinton fails to force
the Israelis to withdraw from 30 percent of YESHA immediately. "Threats of
violence should be condemned because there is no room in the peace process
for the attitude that says if we don't get Israel to accede to our demands,
well try to coerce them with violence," he said. "If every
time we disagree, the Palestinians brandish the sword of terror, then there
is no peace process at all," he said.
Withdrawing from 30 percent in each redeployment would leave Israel nothing
to discuss in the final settlement, he said. We must reject that in
principle and in theory, and hope the US adopts that attitude, too, he
said, adding that if the Palestinians engage in unilateral actions, then
Israel will, too.
Asked if the US should pressure both sides equally, Mr. Netanyahu said, on
the issue of compliance, that would be impossible, because there is no
symmetry. Israel, he said, was already in compliance, while the PA is not.
He said he would prefer the word encourage. "The US should encourage both
sides to exchange views," he said.
"If the Palestinians believe terror or US pressure will force our hand,
they are wrong," he said, adding that only when Abdul Rauf el-Codba
el-Husseini ("Arafat") realizes he must negotiate with Israel for a
permanent settlement will there be real progress. "The US is in an
exceptional position to encourage the PA to accept that message," he said.
>From the Conference of Presidents, the Prime Minister and his party walked
across the hall to yet another room in the Mayflower Hotel, where a room
full of mostly Jewish guests who had been invited by the Israeli Embassy
were waiting to hear the Prime Minister deliver the same message. Again,
he was received well, but the reception could not hold a candle to the
enthusiasm displayed by the NUC participants.