Lo and behold, Pat Robertson has managed to louse up his own plans this time, if a euphemism like “louse up” can still be used when talking about a $50 million tourism partnership lost. After Robertson’s ill-conceived announcement that God had punished Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a stroke in retribution for Sharon’s role in last year’s Gaza pullout, Israel’s government decided it wanted nothing to do with the American televangelist, who, only days before had been near to closing a deal with the country’s tourism ministry to build an American evangelical theme park in Galilee. A spokesperson for the tourism minister Robertson had been in talks with — who is also one of Sharon’s top supporters — said that henceforth, Israel would only do business with evangelicals who distanced themselves from Robertson’s comments and publicly support Sharon’s recovery.
Worldly Retribution
11 January 2006