Plucking the Eagle's Wings

Plucking the Eagle's Wings

this before one of his peace negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Barak and Palestinian leader Arafat because he didn't want to offend those attending the meeting. As one pastor near Camp David pointed out to me, "Clinton didn't mind flying the Israeli flag or the Palestinian flag, but God forbid he fly the American flag. It could offend someone." This is indeed an offense, but it is an offense to Americans and to the thousands of veterans who fought for the flag. One must ask, "How could the Commander in Chief of our armed forces keep the American flag from flying near Camp David?" Few people are aware of a rather unusual event that happened to Clinton after he lost his election as governor. Clinton told the story while on a trip to Israel to members of the Israeli Knesset. An Israeli in Jerusalem related it to me in November of 1998. Clinton addressed the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel on October 27, 1994. He said, "The truth is that the only time my wife and I ever came to Israel was 13 years ago with my pastor on a religious mission. I was then out of office. I was the youngest former governor in the history of the United States. We visited the holy sites. I relived the history of the Bible, of your Scriptures and mine, and I formed a bond with my pastor. Later, when he became desperately ill, he said he thought I might one day become president. And he said, more bluntly than the Prime Minister did, 'If you abandon Israel, God will never forgive you.' He said, 'It is God's will that Israel, the Biblical home of the people of Israel, continue forever and ever'" (Source: transcript from the Knesset in Jerusalem, October 27, 1994). After becoming president, an agreement had been signed on the White House lawn forging a peace between Israel and Palestine. From that moment onward, it seemed that Clinton worked to establish his legacy as a peacemaker between Israel and Palestine. Years later, when the secret negotiations were happening in Oslo, it seemed that the United States had been left out and that the Vatican had become the strong mediator. Clinton became involved once again in negotiating peace. After the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, Benjamin Netanyahu became the new Prime Minister. Insiders have told me that Clinton and Netanyahu did not get along well. It seems that Clinton felt Netanyahu would slow down, if not stop, the peace process because he was a hardliner. A personal friend of mine who works in Washington, D.C. and had access to the president informed me (in 1996) that every world leader is supposed to keep an 148