Leading into his major trip to the UK, Israel and Poland to highlight his foreign policy competence and positions, US Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Tuesday lashed out at US President Barack Obama for "lecturing Israel's leaders."
“President Obama is fond of lecturing Israel’s leaders,” Romney said. “The people of Israel deserve better than what they have received from the leader of the free world. And the chorus of accusations, threats, and insults at the United Nations should never again include the voice of the president of the United States.”
One of Romney's core messages was attacking Obama’s relationship with Israel, a common theme for Republican candidates during the primary.
Romney was cutting in his criticism of how Obama has dealt with Israel, accusing the president of neglect and "shabby treatment" of a key ally.
The Republican presidential candidate also slammed Obama, alleging without mentioning specifics, that officials in his administration had leaked details of American cyber-attacks on Iran, and for, as he perceived, not succeeding sufficiently at undermining Iranian efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
“There is no greater danger in the world today than the prospect of the ayatollahs in Tehran possessing nuclear weapons capability,” Romney said. “Yet for all the talks and conferences, all of the extensions and assurances, can anyone say we are farther from this danger now than four years ago?”
Romney was scheduled to host a fund-raising event in Jerusalem during his upcoming trip.
Delegates are set to fly in from the US for the event on July 29, which a Republican source said would be “a small meeting, but a big fund-raiser” as the Tisha Be’av fast ends. Immediately after the fund-raising meeting, Romney will host a conference in Jerusalem, where he will lay out his Middle East policy.
Romney plans to visit the UK for two days, attending the opening ceremony of the London Olympics on July 27, before flying to Israel.
The Republican candidate will stay in Jerusalem for two days, Israeli Republican political consultant Jonny Daniels told the Post, during which Romney will meet with President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, opposition chairwoman Shelly Yechimovich (Labor) and Palestinian Authority leaders.
Lahav Harkov and Reuters contributed to this report.