JERUSALEM — Mitt Romney held an intimate breakfast fundraiser here Monday with some of his campaign’s biggest benefactors, telling them about the spiritual impact his trip to Israel had had on him.
Seated around a U-shaped conference table with roughly 40 donors, with Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson immediately to his left, Romney said he was “overwhelmingly impressed with the hand of providence.”
“I come to this place, therefore, with a sense of profound humility, as I look around here at great people who’ve accomplished a great thing, and also a sense of spiritual connection, acknowledging the hand of providence in establishing this place and making it a holy city,” Romney said.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was expected to raise more than $1 million from the donors, who each were required to raise or donate $25,000 to $50,000 to attend the event. All of the donors are U.S. citizens, and many of them flew here from the United States to be with Romney during his 36-hour visit to Jerusalem.
Many of those in attendance at the posh King David Hotel are major bundlers for Romney’s campaign, raising tens of thousands of dollars from their business associates and friends. Adelson, for instance, has personally committed to give tens of millions of dollars to a pro-Romney super PAC.
Other donors in attendance included hedge fund executive Paul Singer, beef industry executive John Miller, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and lawyer Philip Rosen.
Ann Romney and one of the couple’s sons, Josh, as well as Scott Romney, the candidate’s older brother, also attended, as did national finance chairman Spencer Zwick and his wife, Jenny, and Bob White, one of Romney’s closest friends and founding partner at Bain Capital.
Ann Romney told the donors that the trip to Israel was emotional for her family. She said Josh had never visited Israel before, and she told him at the beginning of the trip that he would be touched at some point, and he was.
“I think your heart would have to be made of stone not to feel what is still here, with the molecules, the stones, and everything still testifies of something that was so extraordinary that happened in this place,” Ann Romney said. “And it is a magical place and it is a place which makes us turn to our inner soul and to our hearts and to listen with a different voice.
“And that’s why I think it’s so important for people to be here and to understand what a significant and wonderful place this is,” she continued. “So it is with quiet ears that we can hear and listen to all that is around us and of the beauty and all of the extraordinary history that’s here.”
In his remarks, Mitt Romney contrasted the gross domestic product of Israel with its neighbors in the Middle East.
“As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality,” Romney said.
Romney cited two books that had influenced his thinking about foreign affairs — “Guns, Germs and Steel” by Jared Diamond and “The Wealth and Poverty of Nations” by David Landes, and he gave a shout-out to “Start Up Nation,” a book one of his senior foreign policy advisers, Dan Senor, wrote about entrepreneurship in Israel.
Romney noted that Israel spends just 8 percent of its gross domestic product on health care, while the United States spends 18 percent. “We have to find ways,” he said, “not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to [fund] and manage our health care costs.”
Romney also boasted of meeting the founder of Under Armour in London, when he visited the Olympics. Romney spotted him wearing a pullover with the Under Armour logo, and he soon discovered he was the founder. Naturally, Romney asked how he had created the company.
“He said he was playing football and the cotton underwear that they would wear would get all moist and crinkled up and create pressure points and so forth, and he decided to go buy some stretchy fabric, cut it and sew it together, which he did and it was very comfortable,” Romney recalled.
Soon, Under Armour had 5,500 people working at the company and making uniforms for professional sports teams.
Romney had forgotten the founder’s name, however, and told donors that Zwick looked him up on Google.
“The individual who was the founder of Under Armour is Kevin — Plake — is that it?” Romney said.
“Plank,” offered Johnson.
“You know Kevin?” Romney asked.
“I know Kevin,” Johnson said.
“You know Kevin!” Romney replied. “Did he sell product to the New York Jets?”
“I have his products,” Johnson said.
“You have them!” Romney replied. “Are you wearing his productions — can you demonstrate?”
Johnson declined to provide a demonstration.
Seated around a U-shaped conference table with roughly 40 donors, with Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson immediately to his left, Romney said he was “overwhelmingly impressed with the hand of providence.”
“I come to this place, therefore, with a sense of profound humility, as I look around here at great people who’ve accomplished a great thing, and also a sense of spiritual connection, acknowledging the hand of providence in establishing this place and making it a holy city,” Romney said.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was expected to raise more than $1 million from the donors, who each were required to raise or donate $25,000 to $50,000 to attend the event. All of the donors are U.S. citizens, and many of them flew here from the United States to be with Romney during his 36-hour visit to Jerusalem.
Many of those in attendance at the posh King David Hotel are major bundlers for Romney’s campaign, raising tens of thousands of dollars from their business associates and friends. Adelson, for instance, has personally committed to give tens of millions of dollars to a pro-Romney super PAC.
Other donors in attendance included hedge fund executive Paul Singer, beef industry executive John Miller, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and lawyer Philip Rosen.
Ann Romney and one of the couple’s sons, Josh, as well as Scott Romney, the candidate’s older brother, also attended, as did national finance chairman Spencer Zwick and his wife, Jenny, and Bob White, one of Romney’s closest friends and founding partner at Bain Capital.
Ann Romney told the donors that the trip to Israel was emotional for her family. She said Josh had never visited Israel before, and she told him at the beginning of the trip that he would be touched at some point, and he was.
“I think your heart would have to be made of stone not to feel what is still here, with the molecules, the stones, and everything still testifies of something that was so extraordinary that happened in this place,” Ann Romney said. “And it is a magical place and it is a place which makes us turn to our inner soul and to our hearts and to listen with a different voice.
“And that’s why I think it’s so important for people to be here and to understand what a significant and wonderful place this is,” she continued. “So it is with quiet ears that we can hear and listen to all that is around us and of the beauty and all of the extraordinary history that’s here.”
In his remarks, Mitt Romney contrasted the gross domestic product of Israel with its neighbors in the Middle East.
“As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality,” Romney said.
Romney cited two books that had influenced his thinking about foreign affairs — “Guns, Germs and Steel” by Jared Diamond and “The Wealth and Poverty of Nations” by David Landes, and he gave a shout-out to “Start Up Nation,” a book one of his senior foreign policy advisers, Dan Senor, wrote about entrepreneurship in Israel.
Romney noted that Israel spends just 8 percent of its gross domestic product on health care, while the United States spends 18 percent. “We have to find ways,” he said, “not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to [fund] and manage our health care costs.”
Romney also boasted of meeting the founder of Under Armour in London, when he visited the Olympics. Romney spotted him wearing a pullover with the Under Armour logo, and he soon discovered he was the founder. Naturally, Romney asked how he had created the company.
“He said he was playing football and the cotton underwear that they would wear would get all moist and crinkled up and create pressure points and so forth, and he decided to go buy some stretchy fabric, cut it and sew it together, which he did and it was very comfortable,” Romney recalled.
Soon, Under Armour had 5,500 people working at the company and making uniforms for professional sports teams.
Romney had forgotten the founder’s name, however, and told donors that Zwick looked him up on Google.
“The individual who was the founder of Under Armour is Kevin — Plake — is that it?” Romney said.
“Plank,” offered Johnson.
“You know Kevin?” Romney asked.
“I know Kevin,” Johnson said.
“You know Kevin!” Romney replied. “Did he sell product to the New York Jets?”
“I have his products,” Johnson said.
“You have them!” Romney replied. “Are you wearing his productions — can you demonstrate?”
Johnson declined to provide a demonstration.