Miss Universe descended on the Knesset today and with dazzling smile and fluttering eye-lashes put a swift end to an abrasive floor fight that had been going on over the Palestinian question. The shouting faded to a whisper as the predominantly male chamber craned necks toward the visitor’s gallery to glimpse 20-year-old Rina (Mor) Messinger, the Israeli beauty queen who won the Miss Universe title at Hong Kong earlier this month.
Mr. Messinger arrived as the guest of Knesset Speaker Israel Yeshayahu, who escorted her accompanied by an entourage of reporters and photographers popping flash bulbs. The voluble Meir Payil of Moked who had the floor at the time was dumb-struck. His political antagonist, Likud leader Menachem Beigin remarked, “We weren’t listening to you anyway, as usual, Payil.”
Pinhas Scheinman, of the National Religious Party, Acting Speaker for the day, was clearly embarrassed. “It’s not a sin to look,” one MK called out in response to his pleas for order. The Orthodox MK agreed that as long as “it is from a distance, it’s okay.” But Scheinman rejected a motion for a five-minute recess to enable his colleagues to feast their eyes untroubled by more mundane matters.
Later, in the Knesset lobbies, Miss Universe greeted 75-year-old Yohanan Bader, of Herut, senior member of the House in terms of age, with a smacking kiss. The old man seemed abashed but Beigin eased his discomfit by courteously kissing Miss Universe’s hand.
At a press conference that followed, the “most beautiful girl in the universe” assured reporters that she was still “the girl next door” that she always was. She said she would resume her normal life in Israel after her year of glory ends. But until then she pledged to do her bit to aid Israel’s information drive around the world and correct erroneous images of life in the Jewish State. (By David Landau)
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