Thread: Romney Holds Unprecedented Fundraiser in Israel

Romney Holds Unprecedented Fundraiser in Israel

by Kimberly Schwandt | July 29, 2012

JERUSALEM, Israel - Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is doing something Monday morning that no candidate before him, from either party, has ever done -- hold a fundraiser in Israel. About 20 to 30 people are expected to attend, pay $50,000 a couple, and bring in about $1 million for the candidate.

Romney also pulled in $2 million in London, with American citizens living abroad from all over Europe coming to see him while he was in town to meet with British officials and attend the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics.

Overseas fundraising has become somewhat of a new phenomenon in the last decade or so, with former President George W. Bush, Sens. John McCain and John Kerry also raising cash abroad, but mostly in London.

It's Israel specifically that makes this occasion unique. London is an easy commute for Europeans, but Israel becomes more intense for anyone traveling -- given the security and trouble to come here, along with the risky nature of looking like the candidate's raising money off Israeli politics.

Several Jewish donors from the United States are expected to fly over for the fundraiser.

The event was initially scheduled for Sunday, but was moved after old friend and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited him to a private, intimate dinner at Netanyahu's personal residence to break the fast of the Jewish holiday Tisha-V-av.

He's also bringing a little monetary star power, with casino mogul Sheldon Adelson coming over for the fundraiser. Adelson also owns a Jewish newspaper and has pledged tens of millions of dollars to pro-Romney Super PACs.

The Obama campaign was quick to point out ahead of Romney's trip that then Senator Obama never raised money during his eight day foreign trip in 2008. Obama gave a major speech in Berlin and the Romney campaign noted that the democratic candidate did an online fundraising drive after.

Romney's fundraiser at the King David Hotel was initially closed to reporters, but later opened it up, following protocol from other previous events at public venues.

The Republican candidate heads to Poland after the fundraiser Monday morning and wraps up his foreign tour focusing on the Eastern European country's democratic and economic success and also positioning his message on Russia.

Romney Holds Unprecedented Fundraiser in Israel - Fox News

Blundering around abroad is suggestive that his present staff is short on State Dep't diplomacy candidates.

Originally Posted by kevinssdad

Blundering around abroad is suggestive that his present staff is short on State Dep't diplomacy candidates.

Huh? I didn't see anyone suggest he was "Blundering around abroad." Holding a fundraiser in Isreal makes complete sense to me. Supposedly they are our friends and Obama won't be beat without money, and lots of it.

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

By Philip Rucker, Joel Greenberg and David A. Fahrenthold, Updated: Monday, July 30, 1:05 PMThe Washington Post

JERUSALEM — 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.

Romney’s campaign said afterward that the remark had been misinterpreted. “This was not in any way an attempt to slight the Palestinians,” Stuart Stevens, Romney’s chief strategist, told reporters in a later stop in Gdansk, Poland. “And everyone knows that.”

Romney had said at a breakfast fundraiser that he had pondered the reasons for Israel’s huge economic advantage over the neighboring territories.

“As you come here and you see the [Gross Domestic Product] 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,” Romney said, according to a pool report.

In fact, the difference is far more stark than that. According to the World Bank, Israel’s GDP per capita is actually $31,282. The same figure for the Palestinian areas is around $1,600.

Romney said he had studied a book called “The Wealth and Poverty of Nations,” searching for an answer about why two neighboring places--the U.S. and Mexico, for instance, or Israel and the Palestinian areas--could have such disparate prosperity.

“Culture makes all the difference. Culture makes all the difference,” Romney said, repeating the conclusion he drew from that book, by David Landes. “And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things.”

Romney also said he recognized “hand of providence in selecting this place [Israel].”

For Romney, the episode seemed another misstep in an overseas trip that has brought home the difficulty of being a candidate abroad.
So far, Romney has tried to follow an unwritten rule of American campaigning: don’t criticize the president on foreign soil.

But he has struggled with another unwritten rule--one that applies to travel more generally. It is also a bad idea to criticize foreigners on foreign soil.

Romney’s first troubles came in London, the first stop on his tour. He was lambasted by politicians and the British press, after Romney pointed out well-known flaws in the preparations for London’s Olympic games.

At the same fundraiser in Israel, Romney also noted that Israel spends just 8 percent of its gross domestic product on health care, while the United States spends 18 percent. “We have to find ways,” he said, “not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to [fund] and manage our health care costs.”

He did not note that Israel’s health care system contains some features that Republicans have attacked when they were proposed in the U.S. Israel has universal health care, with a mandatory requirement to obtain health insurance.

Romney faces Palestinian criticism for Jerusalem remarks as he heads to Poland - The Washington Post

Originally Posted by MW

Huh? I didn't see anyone suggest he was "Blundering around abroad." Holding a fundraiser in Isreal makes complete sense to me. Supposedly they are our friends and Obama won't be beat without money, and lots of it.

I assume that you missed the British headines. His comments about the London Olympics handling even made his meeting with the PM a bit chilly. But, I understand your motivation for your comment, defending the party's candidate.

Apologies expected only from those who feel they owe them.

Thank you John D. for posting clarification.