Word: rabin
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...begin his climb from the electoral cellar, George Bush needed a fortnight of seamless good fortune: a small triumph of diplomacy with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, James Baker's return to political service, then a smooth glide to Houston for joyous coronation by a united Republican Party. Maybe the convention week will go that way. But in the first half of the Republican fortnight, the President seemed unable to awake from what is turning out to be a nightmarish fight for re-election...
...meeting with Rabin went well enough until the closing press conference, when a CNN reporter threw a question that had rested half-buried like a live grenade from an old war. Had Bush, as Vice President, participated in a "sexual tryst" with a longtime assistant? Unsubstantiated gossip about | Bush and Jennifer Fitzgerald had floated among reporters and politicians -- including Bush's staff -- since the early '80s, then escaped last week through a brassy headline in the New York Post based on a brief reference in a new book. "It's a lie," the President responded...
George Bush's relief that Yitzhak Rabin is now Prime Minister of Israel is genuine, and the President is eager to reward every accommodating step that Israel takes. The withholding of U.S. loan guarantees earlier this year after the Jewish state refused to freeze its settlements in the occupied territories guaranteed a lengthy chill in relations between Bush and Yitzhak Shamir. The only graceful exit from this impasse seemed a defeat of Shamir's Likud at the polls. Since that is exactly what happened, Bush took pains at a Kennebunkport summit last week to emphasize his warm feelings for Rabin...
...money is an important trophy for Rabin, who promised voters he would repair ties with Washington and revive sagging economic growth. It also boosts his authority to speed up peace talks with Palestinians and Israel's Arab neighbors, which start again in Washington next week. For Bush, the cheery tone of U.S.-Israeli ties should be an electoral plus. The peace talks are a remarkable diplomatic feat, capable of reinforcing Bush's campaign pitch that his international leadership gets results. And because some key electoral battlegrounds -- California, Florida, Illinois -- have large Jewish populations, the President is delighted to show that...
...whether the peace process is perceived as actually moving," says Rabbi Daniel Syme of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. "In Bush's favor is the fact that for the first time, speedy progress is in everyone's interest. Israel's economy desperately needs the loan guarantees, so Rabin will do what he must to get them. The Arabs, as the saying goes, have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity, but they clearly want to help Bush too." That's right, says a Saudi Cabinet minister who was present when Baker met with King Fahd last week...