Even after President Bush’s visit to Jerusalem, the prospect of peace between Israelis and Palestinians faces many obstacles, but at least one man hopes Bush’s plan fails: “It is just insanity!” said an exasperated Pat Robertson:
And if we do this, there is a judge in heaven, and that judge in heaven is going to take vengeance against those who damage Israel. That’s what the Bible says: Don’t touch them—he who touches you touches the apple of my eye. You’re sticking your finger in God’s eye. That’s what the Bible says. Terry, I fear for our country if we go forward with this nonsense.
Robertson said the U.S. and Israeli governments are “just asking for the wrath of God” by talking about giving part of Jerusalem to a Palestinian state. For Robertson, the “wrath of God” can mean a lot of things: natural disasters, terrorist attacks—even a persistent vegetative state. Almost exactly two years ago, when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke that has left him in a coma to this day, Robertson blamed it on God’s wrath over Sharon’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
While Robertson says Bush is “in a fog,” the televangelist has been campaigning for Rudy Giuliani because of the former New York mayor’s foreign policy stance. However, when Giuliani was asked about Bush’s visit during this week’s Republican presidential debate, he didn’t mention the wrath of God.
