Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney had another diplomatic misstep ? this time in Israel. The Romney campaign pushed back, disputing the reporting of Romney's comments. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
By NBC News staff and wire reports
WARSAW, Poland --?Mitt Romney prepared to speak about U.S.-Poland ties on Tuesday, capping a week-long foreign tour that the presumptive Republican nominee had hoped would project the image of a leader ready to stand on the world's stage but instead became mired in controversy?after alleged missteps in Britain and Israel.
Romney was set to deliver a foreign policy speech in Warsaw at 6:15 a.m. ET at the end of his three-nation tour that began last week in Britain and took him to Israel.
The two-day trip to Poland is aimed at Polish-American and Catholic voters in the United States and will highlight Romney's stance toward Russia. He has labeled Russia as America's "No. 1 geopolitical foe," a characterization that's not unwelcome in a country that still fears Russia. Poles generally have been skeptical of President Barack Obama's "reset" with Russia, and Romney has cited Polish concerns in his criticism of Obama.
He will deliver his remarks in a deeply Roman Catholic country that for years has favored Republicans over Democrats. This is partly a legacy of President Ronald Reagan, whose efforts helped bring down communism across Eastern Europe, for which Poles remain grateful.
Poland has been a stalwart U.S. ally and significant contributor to military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a former Soviet Bloc nation that has been subjugated by bigger European powers throughout history, it remains particularly worried about Russian policy.
Romney angers Palestinians
Earlier, Romney was forced to fight off controversy after he called Jerusalem the Israeli capital and said later that differences in culture powered Israel's economic success compared with the Palestinians.
Both comments angered Palestinian leaders, just days after Romney annoyed Britons during a stop in London by questioning their readiness to host the Olympic Games.
Romney compliments Olympic preparation after tizzy in British press
The United States is the dominant broker in efforts -- paralyzed since 2008 -- to set up a Palestinian state through negotiations with Israel, and Palestinian leaders do not want to antagonize key players, including Romney.
Candidate Mitt Romney, who was slammed by the British media for comments he made about London's preparedness for the Olympics, now says that "after being here a couple days ? ?I'm absolutely convinced that the people here are ready for the Games."
However, Romney's comments on Sunday about Jerusalem prompted a strong response.
More on London 2012: Hosting the Olympic Games
The Palestinians want to establish a capital in east Jerusalem, captured and annexed by Israel in 1967. Most of the world, including the United States, does not recognize the annexation. Every U.S. administration since Lyndon Johnson has decided to keep the American embassy in Tel Aviv.
McCain: Israeli-Palestinian differences have 'nothing to do with cultures'
But on Sunday, Romney said flat out that Jerusalem is Israel's capital and strongly suggested he would move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem if he were president, supporting two key Israeli demands.
The fate of Jerusalem is one of the main sticking points in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not give up any part of the city, taking a harder line than two of his predecessors who were ready to discuss partition.
Previous U.S. presidential candidates, including then-Sen. Obama in June 2008, have referred to Jerusalem as Israel's capital ahead of elections, only to row back when taking power and suggest the issue should be resolved by negotiations.
Romney: US has duty to protect Israel
Seeking American Jewish and fundamentalist Christian votes, Romney has criticized Obama on Israel, alleging last year that the president had "thrown Israel under a bus" in pushing hard for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
In 2008, Obama won 78 percent of the Jewish vote, a lead into which Romney's campaign would love to make inroads.
Romney points to 'culture' gap
Romney pointed to the big difference in wealth between Israel and the Palestinians and suggested Israel's culture was the reason for the gap.
More coverage of the Middle East and North Africa on NBCNews.com
"If you could learn anything from the economic history of the world, it's this: culture makes all the difference," he told a fundraising event in Jerusalem.
GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney sparked a political firestorm during an interview with NBC's Brian Williams, in which he questioned whether London was ready for the Olympics. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat said that Romney's comments amounted to "a racist statement that shows a lack of knowledge."
He added, "Everyone knows that the Palestinians cannot reach their full potential given the Israeli restrictions imposed on them."
Mitt Romney visits Western Wall, one of holiest sites in Judaism
A senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rdeineh, said Romney's statements were unhelpful, stood in the way of a peace settlement and "contradict the previous positions held by the American administration."
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a chief Romney foreign policy surrogate, appeared to differ with Romney even as he tried to defend him.
"I am sure that Gov. Romney was not talking about difference in cultures, or difference in anybody superior or inferior," McCain said Monday in Tampa, Fla. "What I'm sure Gov. Romney was talking was that the Israeli economy has grown and prospered in a dramatic fashion. And unfortunately, the Palestinians have not had that same economic development."
White House: Some 'scratching their heads' over Romney comments
McCain continued:?"And that goes to the leadership of the Palestinians. ... And we also know that the Palestinian people have not been blessed with the kind of government that has lower regulations, less taxes, entrepreneurship, which have caused the Israeli economy to be one of the world's most successful. It has nothing to do with cultures. It has nothing to do with superiority or inferiority."
In Jerusalem Sunday, Mitt Romney said the U.S. should "employ any and all measures to dissuade the Iranian regime from its nuclear course." NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
Bumpy international trip
Despite efforts to contain controversy, Tuesday was another bumpy day on an international trip aimed at showing U.S. voters that the former governor of Massachusetts can handle foreign policy, an area where his election rival Obama has a lead in opinion polls.
Romney received words of encouragement on his visit to Poland on Monday from Lech Walesa, a former union leader and ex-Polish president, who said: "I wish you to be successful because this success is needed for the United States of course, but for Europe and the rest of the world too. Governor Romney, get your success. Be successful."
Full international coverage on NBCNews.com
But Solidarity, the union led by Walesa in the 1980s that helped topple communism in Poland, distanced itself from Romney, who it said "supported attacks on trade unions and employees' rights."
Romney is set to meet with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski before his speech on Tuesday.
NBC News staff, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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