Incredibly enough, pledging to reverse more than six decades of continuous U.S. government policy on moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, while standing in Jerusalem, apparently wasn't enough for Mitt Romney. At a fund-raising breakfast, he also explained to his audience why Israelis were more financially successful than Palestinians.
First, he noted the difference in GDP:
"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 about 40 wealthy donors who breakfasted around a U-shaped table at the luxurious King David Hotel.
http://www.google.com/...
As the article points out:
The economic disparity between the Israelis and the Palestinians is actually much greater than Romney stated. 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.
But hey, what's an error of an order of magnitude or so when Rmoney was just getting warmed up for his main point, which is the reasons for this difference?
More below the fold.
Mr. Romney then went on to explain his view of the reasons for the difference:
Romney, seated next to billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson at the head of the table, told donors at his fundraiser that he had read books and relied on his own business experience to understand why the difference is so great.
"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 said, citing an innovative business climate, the Jewish history of thriving in difficult circumstances and the "hand of providence."
Ah ... I see! In Mitt's world view, Jews are just real good at that money-making thing. It seems to me that we've heard that somewhere before, but generally not from people who were posing as friends of Jews. And then there's "the hand of providence." In other words, GOD just wants the Israelis to be more economically successful than the Palestinians.
As the cited article goes on to point out, there are a few other reasons for the economic disparity that Mr. Romney didn't see fit to mention:
Romney, in comparing the Israeli and Palestinian economies, made no mention of the fact that Israel has controlled the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem since capturing them in the 1967 war. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but continues to control access, and has enforced a crippling border blockade since the Islamic militant Hamas seized the territory in 2007.
In the West Bank, Israel retains overall control, and Palestinians only have limited self-rule. Israel controls all border crossings in and out of the West Bank, and continues to restrict Palestinian trade and movement.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have said repeatedly that the Palestinian economy can only grow if Israel lifts those restrictions.
Not only that, there have been the refusals to issue building permits, bulldozing of Palestinian houses, confiscation of Palestinian farmland, and sometimes very long waits at Israeli roadblocks for Palestinian trucks and workers.
And then there's the little matter of U.S. government aid to Israel, which in 2008 came to a total of $2.38 billion in country with a population of less than 8 million. And that's only official government aid, not the additional amounts of aid from private Americans.
http://www.census.gov/...
I have seen things indicating that U.S. aid to Israel is now more than that, but coudn't quickly find it in an official government source. I have quoted only a few portions of the AP article, which is well worth reading in its entirety.
Perhaps the factors mentioned by Mitt Romney do have something to do with the economic disparity between Israelis and Palestinians, but they're certainly not the only reasons, and probably not even remotely the biggest ones. But to wade into the complexities of the Middle East, and in a cheap effort to flatter donors, appeal to factors like one group's supposed cultural superiority to another, and the "hand of Providence" favoring one group rather than another, betrays an appalling lack of understanding that should disqualify this fool forever from being anywhere near the Presidency.