Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Appoint Mitt Romney As US Ambassador To Israel

Foreign Policy has an interesting list of suggestions, what Mitt Romney should do next:

Another outside-the-box idea for how a second-term Obama administration could make use of Romney. For all the talk of who-threw-whom under the bus, there aren't that many differences between the two men on substantive policy toward Israel. Both favor continuing heavy military aid to the Jewish state, both are committed -- at least in public -- to negotiating a two-state solutionfor the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and both favor a mix of sanctions and negotiations with Iran without ruling out the possibility of military action.
But tone and personal connections do matter in diplomacy. Obama and Netanyahu have had a frosty relationship from the start, while Romney and the Israeli prime minister are old friends who share more than a few allies and donors. Preventing a war in the Middle East in the next four years may require reigning in the hawkish Israeli leader, who looks like a lock for re-election. But such a message might be more effective if delivered by someone Netanyahu trusts.

I actually think this is a superb idea. Israelis both love Romney, and distrust Obama. Appointing Romney as the US Ambassador would in one sweep do much to calm twitchy Israeli nerves about the Obama administration.

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