at the beginning of negotiations regarding the
resolution of the conflict. The Prime Minister
requests that he be allowed to begin with a story.
Arafat replies, "Of course."
The Prime Minister begins his story: "Years before
the Israelites came to the Promised Land and settled
here, Moses led them for 40 years through the desert.
The Israelites began complaining that they were thirsty
and, lo and behold, a miracle occurred and a stream
appeared before them. They drank their fill and then
decided to take advantage of the stream to do some
bathing -- including Moses. When Moses came out
of the water, he found that all his clothing was missing.
"Who took my clothes?" Moses asked those around him.
"It was the Palestinians," replied the Israelites--"
"Wait a minute," objected Arafat immediately, "there were
no Palestinians during the time of Moses!"
"All right," replies the Prime Minister, "Now that we've got
that settled, let's begin our negotiations."
