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Romney ‘Accepted Instructions from Netanyahu’ to Cancel Meeting

By: Sarah JonesJul. 29th, 2012more from Sarah Jones

Wow. I can’t type fast enough to keep up with Romney’s yellow jello tour. Today, Mitt Romney, who doesn’t apologize for America but does let the British tell him to apologize, let the Israeli Prime Minister boss him around. Romney had a 1:30 meeting with MK Shelly Yacimovich, the leader of the Labor party, that he canceled at the last minute after meeting with Netanyahu.

Romney can’t even meet with the opposition? MEET, not agree. Meet. It’s protocol to meet the opposition. It’s called statesmanship.

Haaretz reported that “Romney apparently accepts instructions from Netanyahu” (are these the kinds of headlines we want to see about our President?):

Today it has become clear that the two are more than just friends. Romney apparently accepts instructions from Netanyahu who succeeded in getting him to cancel a scheduled and meticulously planned meeting with MK Shelly Yacimovich, the leader of the Labor party…

Herzog (Labor faction head Yitzhak (Buzi) Herzog) was dumbfounded to hear of the cancellation on two hours’ notice. He said that Romney was “intentionally misguided by political elements that were unsettled by the steady strengthening of Yacimovich and her transformation into the only alternative to the prime minister.” Circles close to Yacimovich said it clearly: “This is the crude hand of Netanyahu and his people against the background of the disagreement between him and Yacimovich over the economic measures his government is about to adopt.”

Netanyahu’s camp denies having any part in this, but the negotiations for this meeting were long in the making and were confirmed repeatedly today, up until the time Romney took his meeting with Netanyahu.

Is this American exceptionalism, Romney style? He criticizes Obama for “apologizing for America” – something President Obama has actually never done – implying that Obama is a weak person, and yet Obama as a young senator was able to meet with opposition Netanyahu on his visit to Israel. He didn’t let anyone else dictate his policy, let alone his meetings.

This is not, after all, a matter of policy – it’s a matter of protocol. It’s a meeting. Is Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, not allowed to meet with the opposition because a foreign leader doesn’t want him to? How does that serve America?

Why is Romney so utterly devoid in spine? All he had to do was explain that it is protocol to meet with the opposition and while his loyalty lay with Netanyahu, he is required and duty bound to meet with the opposition. Instead, Romney let Netanyahu be the boss of him.

Romney should not forget former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warning. Gates said that Netanyahu was ungrateful to the United States and was endangering Israel. His ominous words should cause Romney to think twice before bending to the will of Netanyahu:

In a meeting of the National Security Council Principals Committee held not long before his retirement this summer, Gates coldly laid out the many steps the (Obama) administration has taken to guarantee Israel’s security — access to top- quality weapons, assistance developing missile-defense systems, high-level intelligence sharing — and then stated bluntly that the U.S. has received nothing in return, particularly with regard to the peace process.

Senior administration officials told me that Gates argued to the president directly that Netanyahu is not only ungrateful, but also endangering his country by refusing to grapple with Israel’s growing isolation and with the demographic challenges it faces if it keeps control of the West Bank. According to these sources, Gates’s analysis met with no resistance from other members of the committee.

Romney needs to be thinking about the entire issue, not taking orders from the Israeli PM. So far, we can knock Britain and Australia off our allies list if Romney is elected, and apparently we will bend to the will of Netanyahu, no matter how much he endangers his own country or ours.

Mitt Romney is running to be President of the most powerful country in the world. He is supposed to be a leader, not a follower. Yet, Romney can’t even meet with the opposition to hear opposing ideas. Under President Romney, Netanyahu will call the shots. Who else will Netanyahu order Romney not to meet?

With all due respect, someone with the Israeli PM’s history regarding corruption charges is not the best person from whom the leader of the “free world” should be taking orders. If Romney wins, it appears that he will take orders from Netanhayu, our best interests be damned.

This man is the Republicans’ idea of a strong leader? It can’t be avoided any longer. Republicans have ceded being the big daddies of national security and foreign policy to President Obama, who is strong enough to be in charge of his own policies, isn’t afraid to meet with opposition, and tough enough that he ordered the successful strike on Osama.

Contrast that with Mitt Romney, who let’s foreign leaders order him around like a lost puppy dog. Romney better hope this election doesn’t become about national security, because he isn’t exactly painting a picture of security and strength.

Romney ‘Accepted Instructions from Netanyahu’ to Cancel Meeting was written by Sarah Jones for PoliticusUSA.
© PoliticusUSA, Jul. 29th, 2012. All Rights Reserved

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