Much has been made of the endless gaffes over the past week that have come from the Romney campaign and directly from Mr. Romney, including the many dangerous comments he made while fundraising in Israel. However, Mr. Romney's comments about Palestinians were no accident; Mr. Romney flew to Israel in an attempt to convey the differences between his Israel policies with that of the current administration. But he didn't do this for the sake of the Israeli people or Jewish American voters; he did it for a specific audience of one, Sheldon Adelson.
Mr. Adelson is the owner of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, and is currently worth about 25 billion dollars, making him the 16th richest person in the world according to Forbes magazine. Adlelson has been the biggest and most staunch benefactor to the Pro-Israel lobby in the United States. Mr. Adleson's agenda in the Middle East has been so hawkish that he even broke off support from the most Pro-Israel lobby in Washington D.C., AIPAC, due to their pseudo support for American monetary aid to the Palestinian Authority. Responding to AIPAC's lack of condemnation for American aid to the Palestinian Authority, Adelson said "I don't continue to support organizations that help friends committing suicide just because they say they want to jump." Insisting that AIPAC isn't tough enough on Palestine is like telling John Boehner that he needs to be more emotional.
Mr. Adelson has never hid his disdain for the Middle East peace process or his objections to a two state solution. Adelson's main political objective is to make sure Israel never has to explain or apologize for its actions, regardless of how they affect the average Israeli, Palestinian, or American for that matter. Adelson, his deep pocket cronies, and political allies in the Israeli government have an eerily messianic agenda. They believe that Israel should not and will not negotiate under any circumstance, should have carte blanche to build Israeli settlements on disputed Palestinian land, and to preemptively attack any Middle Eastern nation that even looks at Israel funny.
By flexing his monetary muscle in the GOP primary for his own personal puppet, Newt Gingrich, Mr. Adelson has been able to demonstrate that he undoubtedly has the war chest to be a kingmaker and he has little hesitation in using it. When Mr. Romney secured his parties inevitable nomination, he knew that it was time to kiss Adelson's proverbial ring. Romney's foreign policy regarding the Middle East started to sound more and more like that of Gingrich. By the time Mr. Romney landed in Israel, he wasn't thinking about what is best for the people of Israel, Palestine, and America, he was attempting to kiss as much of Mr. Adelson's tail as possible. Sure there were other deep pockets in the audience including Woody Johnson (Johnson & Johnson heir) and Sander Gerber (CEO of Hudson Capital) to name a few, but make no mistake, Romney's comments were specifically directed and meant to appease the will of one very religious, 78 year old zealot who doesn't like doesn't play nice with others. Let's hope Mr. Romney isn't looking for other wealthy benefactors to write America's foreign policy.