Last update - 09:13 06/01/2006
Haaretz.com
U.S. evangelist: PM's stroke result of God's 'enmity' for Gaza pullout
By Mazal Mualem and Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondents, and News Agencies
Conservative Christian evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson on Thursday linked Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke to God's "enmity against those who 'divide my land.'"
Sharon who is fighting for his life on a respirator after suffering a severe stroke and cerebral hemorrhage.
"He was dividing God's land and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU, the United Nations, or the United States of America," Robertson said on his television program, "The 700 Club," broadcast from his Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach. "God says, 'This land belongs to me. You better leave it alone.'"
Last year, Sharon, a longtime hawk and supporter of Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, changed tack and withdrew from the Gaza Strip and some settlements in the West Bank, as the best hope for achieving a peace deal with the Palestinians.
The unilateral Israeli pullout was supported by the European Union, the United Nations, and the United States. But it was strongly opposed by many members of Sharon's right-wing Likud party, prompting the Israeli leader to quit and form a new centrist party.
Some U.S. evangelical Christians also opposed the Israeli withdrawal from lands that they believe constitute the biblical land of Israel and link to prophecies foretelling the second coming of Christ.
Robertson said he had personally prayed about a year ago with Sharon, whom he called "a very tender-hearted man and a good friend." He said he was sad to see Sharon in this condition.
Robertson also said that in the Bible, the prophet Joel "makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who 'divide my land.'"
"God considers this land to be his," Robertson said. "You read the Bible and he says 'This is my land,' and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says 'no, this is mine.'"
Robertson spokeswoman Angell Watts did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
People For the American Way Foundation, which monitors "The 700 Club," criticized Robertson's remarks, calling them "an implicit reference to recent steps the prime minister has taken to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process."
"Once again, Pat Robertson leaves us speechless with his insensitivity and arrogance," the group's president, Ralph G. Neas, said in a statement.
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said a religious leader "should not be making callous political points while a man is struggling for his life."
"Pat Robertson has a political agenda for the entire world, and he seems to think God is ready to take out any world leader who stands in the way of that agenda," Lynn said in a statement.
Ahmadinejad hoping for Sharon's death Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying he was hoping for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's death, Reuters reported Thursday.
"Hopefully, the news that the criminal of Sabra and Shatila has joined his ancestors is final," the semi-official news agency ISNA quoted him as telling a group of Shiite clerics in the holy city of Qom.
The United States quickly responded, blasting the comment as "hateful and disgusting."
"This is a man who wraps himself in the cloak of a peaceful religion, Islam, and yet you hear remarks like this coming from him," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
"I can only say that those remarks are hateful and disgusting. And I think that it is, again, a window into the true nature of this particular Iranian Government," McCormack said.
Ahmadinejad has already drawn world condemnation for calling for Israel to be wiped off the map and for branding the Holocaust a myth.
McCormack said the latest comments on Sharon were more of the same.
"I think this is part of a continuing stream of hateful invective that has come from this president."
Israelis pray for Sharon's health In Israel, the Ashkenazi and Sephardic chief rabbis called on Jews to recite psalms and pray for Sharon's health.
The Arab world, meanwhile, displayed mixed responses to the reports of Sharon's health. While the Palestinian militant groups expressed satisfaction, some Arab commentators praised the prime minister for last summer's disengagement from Gaza.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said in Ramallah that he was following Ariel Sharon's condition with "great worry." Other officials from the Palestinian Authority voiced concern for the future of the peace process in Sharon's possible absence.
Representatives from the offices of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II contacted Sharon's aides to express their concern over the prime minister's condition and their wishes for his recovery.
Bush praying for Sharon's recovery Meanwhile, get-well wishes from world leaders to Sharon continued to pour in Thursday.
U.S. President George W. Bush said that he was praying for the prime minister.
"Laura and I share the concerns of the Israeli people about Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's health, and we are praying for his recovery," Bush said in a written statement.
"Prime Minister Sharon is a man of courage and peace. On behalf of all Americans, we send our best wishes and hopes to the prime minister and his family," Bush said.
In a separate statement, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with Prime Minister Sharon, his family, and the Israeli people. We wish the prime minister a full recovery."
American envoys to the Middle East David Welsh and Eliot Abrahams, who were due to arrive in Israel on Thursday, announced they are canceling their visit in light of Sharon's condition.
Welsh and Abrahams were also planning to visit the Palestinian Authority in order to discuss the Palestinian parliamentary elections. Their visit is yet to be rescheduled.
A statement from British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was "deeply concerned" by the prime minister's illness, and had sent a "personal goodwill message" to Sharon, his family and Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Speaking to BBC radio, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Thursday the prime minister had "surprised everybody by the courage and statesmanship he's shown in recent years to work towards a long term peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians."
"I don't want to speculate about the consequences," Straw said later Thursday, the second day of a visit to Beirut. "Sharon is very ill and remains the prime minister. We hope and pray that he recovers... We hope and pray for that miracle."
Straw said Sharon had won "huge respect across the world" as prime minister, especially after his decision to pull out of the occupied Gaza Strip in the summer.
"Israel is a resilient and strong democracy. My view is that whoever is running Israel will be able to take his policy forward," he added