At controversial fundraiser, Romney says Middle East peace isn't possible

In a video obtained by Mother Jones that was shot at a May 17 fundraiser, Romney was asked how the Israeli-Palestinian issue could be resolved. Romney responded by saying the Palestinians aren't interested in peace.

"I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and I say there's just no way," Romney is heard saying on the video.

"[S]o what you do is, you say, you move things along the best way you can. You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem...and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it."

He added that he doesn't support Israel bowing to the Palestinians.

"The idea of pushing on the Israelis to give something up to get the Palestinians to act is the worst idea in the world."

Publicly, Romney has been more restrained and actually said in an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz in July, "I believe in a two-state solution which suggests there will be two states, including a Jewish state."

He also discussed Iran - saying, "Iran... the mullahs... crazy people" could blackmail the U.S. if they had nuclear capability.

"[W]e really don't have any option but to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon," he added.

Romney also took the opportunity to criticize President Obama suggesting his foreign policy "perception" is "naive."

"The president's foreign policy, in my opinion, is formed in part by a perception he has that his magnetism, and his charm, and his persuasiveness is so compelling that he can sit down with people like Putin and Chvez and Ahmadinejad, and that they'll find that we're such wonderful people that they'll go on with us, and they'll stop doing bad things. And it's an extraordinarily naive perception," Romney said.

Steve Chaggaris is CBSNews.com's Executive Editor, Washington.