Vice-presidential hopeful Rob Portman caps multi-country tour

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) was headed back to the U.S. Monday afternoon after a multi-country tour that has taken him to Israel, Jordan, Abu Dhabi and Afghanistan.

The visits will allow Portman to burnish his foreign policy credentials as talk of his getting a spot of Mitt Romney's presidential ticket heat up. This is the Armed Services Committee member's first trip to the Middle East and second time to Afghanistan since being elected to the Senate in 2010, although he's been there before as a congressman and U.S. Trade Representative.

In the Middle East, Portman met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, among others. The conversation in Israel and in Jordan focused on the Syrian and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts and Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Portman also used his Israeli trip to tout his committee's approval of $210 million for Israeli anti-missile defenses. Portman visited an Iron Dome battery during his trip.

"It was encouraging to see firsthand how this innovative technology is protecting lives and significantly diminishing the effectiveness of a tool terrorists use to inflict harm and escalate violence," Portman said in a statement from Israel.

In Abu Dhabi, he met with crown prince and American and local business leaders before connecting with Reps. David Dreier (R-Calif.) and David Price (D-N.D.) and heading to Kabul with them on Sunday. In Paktika Province, Afghanistan, Portman visited a special forces team and service members from Ohio before heading back to the U.S. on Monday.

---