Romney ‘Accepted Instructions from Netanyahu’ to Cancel Meeting

By: Sarah
JonesJuly 29th, 2012

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.