Romney arrives in Israel after rough start to foreign tour

         Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney arrived in Israel Saturday night on the second leg of a three-country tour that began in London where he badly annoyed his hosts by questioning whether the city was ready for the Olympics. The tour to England, Israel and Poland is largely meant to build up the foreign policy credentials of the candidate, who has served one term as the governor of Massachusetts and has little foreign policy experience. Romney's foreign tour got off to a rough start in London, where he said in an interview with NBC news that London's preparations for the games were "disconcerting." This led to disparaging counter-remarks about him by Prime Minister David Cameron and London's mayor Boris Johnson, and a flood of media criticism. Romney's visit to Israel – his fourth – is widely considered an effort to woo pro Israel voters in the US, both Jews and evangelical Christians, many of whom are discontent with the Mideast policies of US President Barack Obama. Obama, as well as John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, both visited Israel in July of that year, just a few months before the elections. One thing Romney is sure to underline – in an effort to contrast himself with Obama -- is his cordial ties with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. He is scheduled to meet Netanyahu Sunday morning, and then again after the Tisha B'Av fast that day when he – and his wife Ann -- will dine at the Prime Minister's residence with Netanyahu and his wife., Sara. In between those two meetings Romney will also meet President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority President Salam Fayyad. Romney is also scheduled to give a foreign policy address in the late afternoon in Jerusalem, but reporters have not been invited to attend the event. Adding to the sense that Israel is a background prop for the Romney campaign is the fact that the press pool for the meeting with President Shimon Peres does not include any members of the Israeli media. Romney will also sit for an ABC interview from Israel. Netanyahu and Romney are not scheduled to hold any significant joint public appearance, with Netanyahu very keen on not being perceived as in any way intervening in the US elections. The media will be limited to a photo op before the Sunday morning meeting. Over the last few months Netanyahu has downplayed the perception that emerged following a New York Times article in April that the two men were close friends. The Times article, which to some read as a warning to readers that Romney was somehow "in Netanyahu's pocket," characterized their ties as a "warm relationship, little known to outsiders." Netanyahu immediately poured cold water on that depiction, and in an April interview with CNN said that after working at the same consulting firm with Romney in Boston 35 years ago, he did not meet him again until many years later when he was finance minister and Romney was the governor of Massachusetts. Asked whether Romney was his friend, and whether he "likes him," Netanyahu replied: "Well, look, here's an answer that will - should satisfy you. I respect Mitt Romney as I respect Barack Obama, the president of the United States. And that's the end of the ranking and the questions that you will undoubtedly try again and again to draw me into." Netanyahu also refused to be pulled into the issue of his relationship with Romney last Sunday during interviews on two US networks. Romney is slated to leave for Poland at about noon on Monday. Before taking off, he is scheduled to host a fundraiser at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem Monday morning. The fundraiser was moved from Sunday evening to Monday morning so as not to conflict with Tisha B'av. The cost to attend the event, where Romney is expected to appear for 45 minutes, is $50,000 a donor.