The New York Times broke the news about Mitt Romney's summer plans: He's going to go visit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
Mr. Romney, who has pledged to âdo the oppositeâ of the Obama administration on matters pertaining to Israel, is also expected to meet with Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority; President Shimon Peres of Israel; the American ambassador, Daniel B. Shapiro; and leaders of the opposition Labor Party in Jerusalem. He plans to have at least one public event in a trip that will likely last less than two days.
âHeâs a strong friend of Israel and weâll be happy to meet with him,â said Ron Dermer, Mr. Netanyahuâs senior adviser, who worked with Republicans in the United States before immigrating here. âWe value strong bipartisan support for Israel and weâre sure it will only deepen that.â
Romney needs a lot of work on his foreign policy. His Bizarro code ("Us do opposite of all Obama things!") isn't going to work when President Obama is widely considered to be great on foreign policy. It's going to be hard for Romney to strike an individual stance on international issuesâat the moment, his most notable policy involves being weirdly tough on China (when he's not sending jobs over to China by the bushel, that is). If he's looking to gain any ground on foreign policy, he'd better make a vice presidential pick that focuses on that area.