By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

JERUSALEM -- Mitt Romney on Monday morning ignited a firestorm of criticism from Palestinian leaders after he told a group of top-level Jewish donors here that the Israeli culture had helped them become more economically successful than the Palestinians.

‘’As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality,’’ Romney said.

Romney also referred to other neighboring countries that experience economic disparities -- Chile and Ecuador, he said, or Mexico and the United States -- but Palestinian leaders quickly called the comments racist and out of touch. They also said they could empower extremists, and damage the peace process.

“Today he referred to us as an inferior culture, when he said that Israelis have double our GDP,” Saeb Erekat, a top Palestinian negotiator with the Israelis, said in an interview with the Globe. “I’ve never heard such a racist statement from any Israeli. Yes, we have a conflict with the Israelis. But we never go down this road of racism.”

http://www.boston.com/politicalintelligence/2012/07/30/israel/ZEdvyA3ybH1UWpii4E1wXP/story.html