Romney Leak No. 2: 'Palestinians have no interest in peace'

September 18, 2012 - US Republican presidential candidate filmed at fundraising dinner saying Palestinians "have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace," adding Iran would use nuclear capability to blackmail US.

US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney questioned the feasibility of the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, according to video footage published Tuesday by US magazine Mother Jones.


"I'm torn by two perspectives in this regard," Romney said at a $50,000-per-plate fundraising dinner on May 17. "One is the one which I've had for some time, which is that the Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace, and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish."

Romney then launched into a hypothetical scenario in which Israelis allow the Palestinians to establish a state in the West Bank but are then forced to contend with unsolvable security and border issues.

It is "maybe seven miles from Tel Aviv to what would be the West Bank," he said, repeating an oft-cited Israeli security concern alleging that an opposing Arab army in the West Bank could cut Israel in half horizontally in a matter of minutes. "And now how about the airport?" he asked.

Turning to Iran, Romney cautioned on the danger of allowing the Islamic Republic to obtain nuclear weapons capability. Using another hypothetical scenario, Romney imagined Iran giving Hezbollah "a little fissile material," ordering the proxy to take it to Chicago, and then blackmailing the US over foreign policy issues. "We really don't have any option but to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon," he said.