A Friendship Dating to 1976 Resonates in 2012

The New York Times ^ | 4/7/2012 | MICHAEL BARBARO

[Utah Girl]

The two young men had woefully little in common: one was a wealthy Mormon from Michigan, the other a middle-class Jew from Israel.

But in 1976, the lives of Mitt Romney and Benjamin Netanyahu intersected, briefly but indelibly, in the 16th-floor offices of the Boston Consulting Group, where both had been recruited as corporate advisers. At the most formative time of their careers, they sized each other up during the firm’s weekly brainstorming sessions, absorbing the same profoundly analytical view of the world.

That shared experience decades ago led to a warm friendship, little known to outsiders, that is now rich with political intrigue. Mr. Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, is making the case for military action against Iran as Mr. Romney, the likely Republican presidential nominee, is attacking the Obama administration for not supporting Mr. Netanyahu more robustly.

[Utah Girl]

Interesting article.

[Paladin2]

Cool.

But Hairy Reed is a Mormon and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is a Jew. What about that?

[FormerACLUmember]

Benjamin bonded with the hard-working young Mitt out in the corporate world, befriending and respecting each other as only real men do.

And yet most American Jews will finance and vote for an obvious enemy of both America and Israel.

[Slings and Arrows]

Who knew?

[FormerACLUmember]

Benjamin bonded with the hard-working young Mitt out in the corporate world, befriending and respecting each other as only real men do.

And yet most American Jews will finance and vote for an obvious enemy of both America and Israel.

[FormerACLUmember]

Benjamin bonded with the hard-working young Mitt out in the corporate world, befriending and respecting each other as only real men do.

And yet most American Jews will finance and vote for an obvious enemy of both America and Israel.

[Paladin2]

"FormerACLUmember"

Dear Ruth Buzzy:

Good Work!

[SoConPubbie]

Benjamin bonded with the hard-working young Mitt out in the corporate world, befriending and respecting each other as only real men do.

So does a real man implements Gay Marriage as Mitt Romney did in MA?

How about supporting Abortion as Mitt Romney did?

How about refusing to re-instate DADT as Mitt Romney has done?

Are these the actions of a real man?

[higgmeister]

Interesting. I’ve finally seen a positive factile regarding Romney.

[LucyT]

In 1976, the lives of Mitt Romney and Benjamin Netanyahu intersected, briefly but indelibly..."

Thanks, Slings and Arrows.

[Slings and Arrows]

De nada, chica.

[LibLieSlayer]

This is the ny slimes... is it true?

LLS

[stylecouncilor]

Ping

[originalbuckeye]

Bookmark

[NavyCanDo]

Read the same story but different title in the Seattle Times yesterday. They can say what they want about Mitt, but a back stabber of Israel will never be one of them. It is going to be so nice having an administration that treats that Nation as a true friend and ally again.

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

[SVTCobra03]

The Mittbots have come out of the woodwork this morning.

[Hawthorn]

Thanks for posting THREE times!

[Hawthorn]

>> Hairy Reed is a Mormon and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is a Jew. What about that? <<

What about it indeed? Read the article. It’s not about religion, not at all.

[justiceseeker93]

Aside from the comments from Clintonista Martin Indyk and the excessive use of the overly formal “Mr.” to refer to both Romney and Netanyahu, this is a surprisingly well-written and informative article - considering its source, the New York Times - about a relationship between the two men that I, for one, hadn’t known about previously.