The Foreign Service Journal, September 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2018 79 REFLECTIONS Being There: Camp David, 1978 BY FRANK F I NVER “H ere’s a map. Pack clean underwear, because you might need to stay overnight.” So I was instructed a couple weeks after starting my internship with the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., as a postgraduate student at American University. And so it was that on Sept. 5, 1978, I was driving north toward Thurmont, Maryland, into the Catoctin National Park. I waited in a small, mountaintop park- ing lot with a snoozing Israeli general in the passenger seat from noon until dusk, when a white U.S. Navy sedan pulled up and a voice said simply, “Follow me.” We came to an entrance with the iconic wooden “Camp David” sign illuminated and waited some more. I sensed some movement and faint rustling nearby and then spotted camouflaged Marines comb- ing the woods for intruders. (They would later apprehend a number of infiltrators, who possibly had malign intent.) For the next 12 days I shuttled body- guards and principals around and ran Frank Finver joined the State Department (Passport Office, then Public Affairs) in 1982 and the Foreign Service in 1987. He is currently serving as public affairs officer in Warsaw, after overseas assignments in Zagreb, Moscow, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Baghdad and Lisbon. He has also served in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, and the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scien- tific Affairs in Washington, D.C. assorted errands from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m., when I returned down the mountain to the Hagerstown Holiday Inn for a few hours of sleep. All was going well until the morning a large and compulsive security agent named Doron insisted on driving, and proceeded to greatly exceed the strict 10-mph limit—just as Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and his party were taking their pre-dawn stroll nearby. The red-faced camp commander sprang into Doron’s window, forcefully explaining that should he opt to drive again on the premises, he would be on the next flight home. a We were setting up our trailer offices (I still have the wooden Israeli delega- tion sign in my attic) when Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan dropped by to chat and pose for pictures, courtesy of Moshe Milner of Time magazine. Milner spotted Prime Minister Men- achem Begin walking around and coaxed me to approach him, which I did. Me (in Hebrew): I read your book. Begin (also in Hebrew): Which book? Me: The Revolt . Begin: Did you fall asleep while read- ing it? Me: Of course, I mean no! (He later visited our trailer and bor- rowed my book, Foreign Policymaking in the Middle East, co-authored by R.D. McLaurin and my professor, Mohammed Mughisudin, which gave me another excuse for delaying my exam.) a On the evening of the second day, everyone turned out at the parade grounds between the field house and the helo pad, where the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps played a medley of “New York, New York,” “I Believe” and the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Then—with President Jimmy Carter, President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin standing stiffly at attention on a reviewing stand—the Marine Silent Drill Team put on a remarkable show of dexterity and precision by twirling, tossing and catch- ing their weapons (with fixed bayonets) in rapid succession. Impressive as it was, the martial display was a tad incongruous for a peace conference; but I guess Peter, Paul and Mary were not available. The next evening, Sept. 8, the Israeli delegation, joined by the Carters and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, gathered for Shabbat dinner at Hickory Lodge. Spirits were high—lots of singing, eating and joking. a One morning I went to see Israeli Defense Minister Ezer Weizmann, who was not feeling well and resting in his cabin. “Who’s there?” Weizmann called out in Hebrew as I tried to quietly enter. A white U.S. Navy sedan pulled up and a voice said simply, “Follow me.”