Frigid Hill Sends Chills Up Bill's Spine
Hillary Rodham Clinton gave her embattled husband the cold shoulder in Israel yesterday - the latest chill in a relationship increasingly strained by Sexgate. The First Lady turned and pulled away from President Clinton as he tried to hold her arm by the grave of slain Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, casting a pall over President Clinton's historic Mideast visit - the first of a U.S. president to Palestinian-controlled land.
Mrs. Clinton also refused to come to the rescue of the president during the trip - at least in public - while the House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee voted to impeach him.
The icy graveyard brush-off was seen by many at the memorial service - and throughout the world.
NBC News showed footage of the president trying to lock an arm with his wife - only to watch as she turned and pulled away, leaving his lonely arm dangling.
Mrs. Clinton flew in a separate compartment from her husband on Air Force One last week - and friends say she's more distant than ever from the president, NBC reported.
The big chill first emerged last summer, when Clinton was forced to admit he "misled" the country, and his wife, about his relationship with ex-White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Call it a little white lie, or perjury, it had to hurt, experts said, though Mrs. Clinton braved one statement - she remained dedicated to her marriage.
In the weeks that followed, you could practically see your breath in the airspace between them.
The couple have practically been on separate trips in the Middle East, the First Lady going one direction and the president going another.
In Gaza City, Mrs. Clinton got the rush of warmth and affection from the public that she may be missing from her personal relationship.
Palestinians poured out their love for the First Lady and her daughter, Chelsea, with Scouts, marching bands and schoolkids lining the streets and cinder-block rooftops of Gaza's beach refugee camp awaiting their arrival.
One banner proclaimed Mrs. Clinton "Angel of Mercy."
When Mrs. Clinton's black limo rolled through the camp's narrow alleys, a tremendous roar erupted from the crowd.
"Thank you again for witnessing with us the construction of our country and I hope you will be here to witness again our Palestinian state," Palestinian First Lady Suha Arafat told Mrs. Clinton after touring a refugee camp center that encourages women in small-scale enterprises.
Later, at an historic conference on nullifying clauses in the PLO charters calling for Israel's destruction, 1,000 Palestinians gave the First Lady a standing ovation.
When the First Couple was together during the trip, there was nothing approaching such warmth, much less affection.
At an Israeli state dinner for the Clintons on Sunday night, they went through the motions shaking hands with top officials.
Occasionally, the president would try to bring his wife into his conversations, but though she smiled pleasantly, there were no hugs or squeezes of the hand.
To replace whatever heat the First Couple once shared, Mrs. Clinton has found other outlets for her time and energy: fitness, fashion openings in New York, and even an appearance on the Rosie O'Donnell show.
In the Middle East, she's not been asked about her husband's political problems, and she hasn't made any public appeal on his behalf.
Though she placed a few phone calls months ago as the Sexgate crisis moved to Capitol Hill, she's done little else in public to soften the blows of Sexgate on her spouse.
-- Uri Dan - 12/15/98