Netanyahu and Romney
It never ends; many of you read the frightening article in the New York Times over the weekend by Michael Barbaro, describing the close relationship between Mitt Romney and Benjamin Netanyahu, forged in business 35 years ago.
Only a few weeks ago, on Super Tuesday, Mr. Netanyahu delivered a personal briefing by telephone to Mr. Romney about the situation in Iran.
“We can almost speak in shorthand,” Mr. Romney said in an interview.
How many other heads of state of countries of several million people get this kind of access? After Romney and Gingrich sparred in debate about who could be more responsive to Israel, Democratic Israel lobbyist Martin Indyk comments that Romney would “subcontract Middle East policy to Israel.” Meantime, Netanyahu is reported to have signalled Romney that he had nothing to do with his other good friend Sheldon Adelson giving millions to Newt Gingrich in December.
The relationship between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Romney — nurtured over meals in Boston, New York and Jerusalem, strengthened by a network of mutual friends and heightened by their conservative ideologies — has resulted in an unusually frank exchange of advice and insights on topics like politics, economics and the Middle East.
In a telling exchange during a debate in December, Mr. Romney criticized Mr. Gingrich for making a disparaging remark about Palestinians, declaring: “Before I made a statement of that nature, I’d get on the phone to my friend Bibi Netanyahu and say: ‘Would it help if I say this? What would you like me to do?’ “
…Martin S. Indyk, a United States ambassador to Israel in the Clinton administration, said that whether intentional or not, Mr. Romney’s statement implied that he would “subcontract Middle East policy to Israel.”
..Mr. Netanyahu was startled in January by an article exploring why Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino executive and outspoken supporter of Israel, was devoting millions of dollars to back Mr. Gingrich. It described Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Adelson as close friends.
Mr. Netanyahu’s office quickly relayed a message to a senior Romney adviser, Dan Senor: the prime minister had played no role in Mr. Adelson’s decision to bankroll a Romney rival.
Oh and here is Boston Magazine’s 2003 list of 100 women who run this town. #7 is Orit Gadiesh at Bain, Romney’s former shop (h/t Scott McConnell):
Orit Gadiesh 52, Chair, Bain & Company She stands over 6 feet tall in heels. She worked in military intelligence in her native Israel. And she runs one of the world’s largest, most elite business-consulting firms, with big-hitter clients like De Beers, ITT, and Dell. Twelve years ago, Gadiesh succeeded Mitt Romney as head of what was once called the KGB of consulting firms. Given her connections to the governor, it was no surprise when he named her to his transition team. Gadiesh was one of only two Bostonians listed the last time Fortune magazine published its female power list in 2000.
Steve Kornacki at Salon has an important insight into the Romney/Neanyahu story:
“There are those who will say the relationship raises the question of whether Romney, who has hewed to the Netanyahu line on Iran and other Middle East issues throughout the campaign, might as president be excessively deferential to his old colleague. But this misses the point, because even if there was no longstanding personal relationship between them, Romney – both as a candidate and as president – would have a clear political incentive to align himself with Netanyahu: It’s what the base of his party wants and expects its leaders to do.
Maybe this has something to do with why Romney chose to cooperate with the story. Consider his political predicament right now. He’s almost certainly going to be the Republican nominee, but a major component of the party’s base – white evangelical Christians – is still refusing to join the bandwagon. This has stretched out the nominating process and resulted in some very embarrassing nights for Romney. If evangelical resistance doesn’t dissipate soon, he could continue to suffer primary losses through May and June, even as he moves inexorably toward the 1,144-delegate mark.
There are two dominant theories about why the Christian right isn’t wild about Romney. One holds that conservative evangelicals tend to care the most about cultural topics like abortion and homosexuality and are thus more likely to be bothered by the liberal positions Romney took back in his Massachusetts days, and skeptical of his conversion story. The other holds that they don’t want to vote for a Mormon.
But Israel is also a huge issue for evangelical Republicans, who share Netanyahu’s hawkish, settler-friendly views and ardently support him in his battles with the Obama administration. Playing up a decades-old relationship with him represents a rare opportunity for Romney to demonstrate natural common ground with skeptical evangelicals.
It’s also another chance to ingratiate himself with one of the Republican Party’s top fund-raisers, Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate who’s poured more than $10 million into Newt Gingrich’s political efforts. Adelson, a Netanyahu ally whose political activity is driven by his views on Israel, has indicated that he’ll back Romney against Obama, but continues to take shots at the former Massachusetts governor. This is one of the new realities of the super PAC era: It’s conceivable that a candidate like Romney could be aiming his public actions at an audience of just one billionaire.”
Mitt’s mandatory friendship
Even if they didn’t have a 36-year relationship, he’d be joined at the hip with Benjamin Netanyahu
http://www.salon.com/2012/04/09/mitt%E2%80%99s_mandatory_friendship/
Be sure to check the links, including this dated, but important for background, article:
Why does Mike Huckabee love Israel so much?
Because of the Antichrist
http://www.salon.com/2011/02/18/huckabee_israel_end_times/
I believe Max Boot and Kagan are Romney foreign policy advisers. Romney is going to give Obama a run for that spot. Obama had better giddy up and get some of those sub prime and foreclosure fraudsters prosecuted, take it down a notch with Iran or there will not be enough of a distinction between him and Romney once he pivots back closer to his record
Bibi: “Who’s this Mormon twit?”
Off-camera aide: “A useful idiot, sir.”
RE: “Given her [Orit Gadiesh’s] connections to the governor, it was no surprise when he named her to his transition team.” ~ Boston Magazine
ALSO SEE: Mitt Romney’s Ties to Israeli Military Intelligence – condensed from Bollyn.com (Christopher Bollyn), Jan 12 2012
Source – http://niqnaq.wordpress.com/2012/01/12/ha-ha-lets-be-a-devil-and-post-some-christopher-bollyn-research/
Bollyn.com source – http://www.bollyn.com/the-iowa-caucus-and-iran
Easy solution, folks.
Support Ron Paul for the Republican nomination. No wars for Israel, no vetoing shit at the UN.