This New York Times account of how Benjamin Netanyahu and Mitt Romney have ties that predate their political careers is fascinating. Read the whole thing.
They met as young business school grads (Romney of Harvard’s, Bibi of MIT’s) hired as analysts at Boston Consulting Group.
The nugget for me, though, comes toward the end:
Even as Mr. Netanyahu, a keen and eager student of American politics, has tried to avoid any hint of favoritism in the presidential election, friends say he has paid especially close attention to Mr. Romney’s political fortunes in this campaign season.
And the prime minister keeps open lines of communication to the candidate. When it was Mr. Gingrich’s turn to leap to the top of the polls, Mr. Netanyahu was startled in January by an article exploring why Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino executive and outspoken supporter of Israel, was devoting millions of dollars to back Mr. Gingrich. It described Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Adelson as close friends.
Mr. Netanyahu’s office quickly relayed a message to a senior Romney adviser, Dan Senor: the prime minister had played no role in Mr. Adelson’s decision to bankroll a Romney rival.
That Adelson would not consult Bibi about whom to back is not surprising; it would be unseemly if he did.
That Bibi, apparently, was caught off guard about the pick — now, that’s interesting.
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