Romney holds Jerusalem fundraiser before leaving Israel

[Scurrilous]

Seven-digit sum raised in breakfast meet with supporters

<snip>

"Having publicly pledged to uphold “a solemn duty and moral imperative” to protect Israel, Mitt Romney spent his final hours in Jerusalem courting wealthy donors before heading to Poland in the final leg of a three-nation tour designed to bolster the Republican presidential candidate’s foreign policy credentials.

Nearly 50 donors lined up to meet Romney at a $50,000-a-plate breakfast at the luxurious King David Hotel. Each got to spend a couple of minutes shmoozing with him and each had a picture taken. The guests were then treated to the standard hotel breakfast and heard speeches from Romney, his wife Ann, his son Josh and billionaire Jewish casino owner Sheldon Adelson.

“As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel, which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality,” the Republican presidential candidate told the donors.

The economic disparity between the Israelis and the Palestinians is actually much greater. Israel had a per capita gross domestic product of about $31,000 in 2011, while the West Bank and Gaza had a per capita GDP of just over $1,500, according to the World Bank.

Romney, seated next to Adelson at the head of the table, said he had read books and relied on his own business experience to understand why the difference is so great."

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Romney faces Palestinian criticism for Jerusalem remarks as he heads to Poland

<snip>

"Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney angered Palestinian leaders on Monday when he suggested here that the Israeli economy had outpaced the economy of the Palestinian territories in part because of advantages of “culture.”

Palestinians said that Romney had ignored the long-running Israeli restrictions on crossings from the Gaza Strip and West Bank, which they say are an enormous drag on trade. The Romney campaign disputed media accounts of Romney’s remarks."

<snip>

"Romney did not mention that Israel controls crossings to both Palestinian areas. Israel has imposed a blockade on its boundary with Gaza since the Islamic militant group Hamas took over there in 2007. In the West Bank, Israel continues to restrict Palestinian trade and movement.

The Associated Press reported Monday that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have said repeatedly that the Palestinian economy can only grow if Israel lifts those restrictions.

“It is a racist statement and this man doesn’t realize that the Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupation,” said Saeb Erekat, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told the Associated Press. Palestine is not officially a country, which means it lacks other kinds of legal powers that allow nations to control their own economies."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romney-faces-palestinian-criticism-for-jerusalem-remarks-as-he-heads-to-poland/2012/07/30/gJQAr5FSKX_story.html

[oberliner]

1. Another winner of a trip for the Mittser

What a buffoon.