Trying to solidify his “pro-Israel” bona fides, Romney compared the GDPs of Israel and the Palestinian territories. Hussein Ibish on the candidate's latest failure abroad.
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Republican candidate Mitt Romney's visit to Israel was marked by a
series of largely boilerplate comments about the special relationship
between the United States and Israel. And, like Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, he almost entirely avoided the question of peace and the
two-state solution, preferring to focus on the threat posed by Iran's
nuclear weapons. In his speech in Jerusalem, the word “Palestinian” did
not once cross his lips.
But certainly Romney's most striking remark, from a Palestinian point of view at least, came when he spoke to the in-crowd.
But certainly Romney's most striking remark, from a Palestinian point of view at least, came when he spoke to the in-crowd.
Romney explained to some 40 wealthy donors at Jerusalem's King David Hotel that he was putting the economic puzzle together:
As
you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel
which is about $US21,000, 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.
Not
only did Romney get the economic figures entirely incorrect—Israel's
per capita GDP is about US$31,000 while the Palestinians' is at
US$1,500—he attributed this difference to “culture.”
Romney
reportedly told the group—which, by the end of the night had given him
around $1 million for his campaign—“Culture makes all the difference.
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.” He also bizarrely attributed
Israel's relative prosperity in contrast to Palestinian impoverishment
to “the hand of providence.”
Romney
and his team would be well advised to consult the latest World Bank
report on the state of the Palestinian economy released July 25th
of this year. The report emphasizes the need for the creation of a more
robust private Palestinian economic sector and education reform and
named the major constraints to private sector activity as tight Israeli
restrictions on movement and resources. It’s quite straightforward:
The
Government of Israel’s (GOI’s) security restrictions continue to stymie
investment…Despite the easing of some [Israeli] restrictions, most of
the constraints on movement of people and access to resources have
remained in place, constraining investment and productivity growth.
These
restrictions, along with a dependence on international aid are a
function of not providence, but, well, the occupation. The report notes
that the occupation “has skewed the economy towards the public sector
and non-tradables."
The
bottom line: “The major constraints to private sector activity are the
tight Israeli restrictions, and growth will not be sustainable until
Palestinians have access to resources and are allowed to move freely.”
To be sure the report notes that there is much the Palestinians need to
do, particularly in shifting education reform to produce a more dynamic
and employable workforce geared towards a robust private sector. But it
also makes clear that the development of such a sector depends even more
on the easing of Israeli restrictions that are the consequence of its
occupation policies....READ MORE
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