Rumored Romney Secretary of State Pick Causing ‘Firestorm’ among Pro-Israel Stalwarts

David Streeter — August 28, 2012 – 4:25 pm | Iran | Israel | Mitt Romney Comments (1) Add a comment

Politico published an article that provides insight into what a potential Mitt Romney Administration would look like. Robert Zoellick—who is “causing a ‘firestorm’ within foreign policy circles, especially among pro-Israel stalwarts” because of his leadership of Romney’s potential transition team—was listed by Politico as a likely pick for Secretary of State.

The Times of Israel recently profiled Zoellick:

Zoellick is said to be an ‘old-school Republican,’ a foreign policy realist in the mold of his mentor, former US secretary of state James A. Baker, who was well-known for his clashes with the American pro-Israel community. Zoellick worked for Baker at the State Department and Treasury Department during the George H.W. Bush administration….

During his five-year tenure as president of the World Bank, which concluded in June, Zoellick came under fire for authorizing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of projects in Iran despite multiple UN Security Council resolutions in place against the Islamic Republic.

In 2007, a dozen US congressmen from both sides of the aisle sent Zoellick a letter urging the bank to cut its ties with Iran. ‘In our view, it would be consistent if, as the Security Council condemns the actions of President Ahmadinejad, the World Bank would suspend funding for his government,’ said the letter, which can be read on the AIPAC website….

Two months later, one of the letter’s co-authors, Republican Congressman Mark Kirk of Illinois (now a Senator) wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post expressing frustration with Zoellick’s inaction, accusing the World Bank of harboring ‘a worldview toward Iran that is backward, uneducated and outdated.’

By 2008, Kirk and Democratic Rep. Steve Rothman of New Jersey, who also signed the original letter, took their concerns directly to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. In a letter (also available on the AIPAC website), the duo wrote:

‘More than six months ago, we wrote to President Robert Zoellick urging a review of current World Bank projects in Iran in order to realign the policies of the Bank with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Since then, the Bank has transferred at least $50 million in U.S. and allied taxpayer funding to Iran.’

Click here to read more about Romney’s rumored pick for Secretary of State.

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