Last week saw the two US presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, literally falling over themselves to convince the Israeli public and the wider world that they are best placed to work with, and act in the best interests of, the Jewish State.
Although the traditional instinct of the majority of US Jews has been to vote Democrat, the difficult economic conditions in America and other issues such as Obama’s controversial healthcare reforms have failed to endear him to many of his traditional Jewish supporters, many of whom also appear to feel he hasn’t been supportive enough of Israel on key issues during his presidency.
That view isn’t held by former Israeli prime minister and current Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who told CNN on Monday evening that in his opinion,
“this administration under President Obama is doing, in regard to our
security, more than anything that I can remember in the past”. Mitt Romney, who spent two days in Israel over the weekend, didn’t find time in his schedule to meet Ehud Barak, a point some commentators suggest might have coloured the controversial ex-PM’s view, but there could be no hiding the warmth of the welcome the Utah governor received from Bibi Netanyahu whose personal friendship with the Republican goes back more than 35 years to their time as work colleagues in the US in the 1970’s.
Romney, who has long placed his unequivocal support for Israel on the record and visited the country on at least four occasions, will never have been happier to land here than he was on Saturday night after a torrid visit to Britain in which his perceived ungentlemanly criticism of the preparations for London’s Olympic Games went down about as well as a pork chop at a barmitzvah! On what should have been a huge publicity coup for Romney in the country that is the USA’s long-standing major international military ally and partner to the ‘special relationship’, his photo-opportunity of a visit was completely overshadowed by his ill-judged comments which his entourage, (despite determined efforts to smooth things over), failed to brush under the carpet.
Romney came on to Israel to speak at a fund-raising dinner for which tickets had been available at a cost of no less than a staggering $50,000 each, but the dinner had to be rescheduled in embarrassing fashion for 24 hours later after it was suddenly realized that it was to be held on the Jewish fast day of Tisha b’Av, another gaffe that stole the headlines locally. That bloomer apart, Romney’s affirmation of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was very well received over here, as too was Romney’s pledge to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel on the troubling issue of Iran’s attempt to develop nuclear weapons.
Obama meanwhile, in what was perceived as a calculated move to steal the thunder in advance of Romney’s visit to Israel, on Friday sought to reassure Jewish voters at home and abroad that he has the best interests of the US’ closest ally in the Middle East at heart, signing the United States-Israel Enhanced Cooperation Act in a ceremony at the White House during which he also announced an additional $70 million for Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ defence
system.
In short, there is little doubt that both Obama and Romney see Israel as a significant factor in their respective presidential campaigns, both from the point of being seen to have genuine strengths on foreign policy, and also in trying to woo the significant Jewish vote in key states such as Florida. There will doubtless be plenty more focus on Israel, the Middle East, and the Iranian threat over the months to come, in what most experts believe could be one of the closest races for the White House for some years.
Although the traditional instinct of the majority of US Jews has been to vote Democrat, the difficult economic conditions in America and other issues such as Obama’s controversial healthcare reforms have failed to endear him to many of his traditional Jewish supporters, many of whom also appear to feel he hasn’t been supportive enough of Israel on key issues during his presidency.
That view isn’t held by former Israeli prime minister and current Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who told CNN on Monday evening that in his opinion,
“this administration under President Obama is doing, in regard to our
security, more than anything that I can remember in the past”. Mitt Romney, who spent two days in Israel over the weekend, didn’t find time in his schedule to meet Ehud Barak, a point some commentators suggest might have coloured the controversial ex-PM’s view, but there could be no hiding the warmth of the welcome the Utah governor received from Bibi Netanyahu whose personal friendship with the Republican goes back more than 35 years to their time as work colleagues in the US in the 1970’s.
Romney, who has long placed his unequivocal support for Israel on the record and visited the country on at least four occasions, will never have been happier to land here than he was on Saturday night after a torrid visit to Britain in which his perceived ungentlemanly criticism of the preparations for London’s Olympic Games went down about as well as a pork chop at a barmitzvah! On what should have been a huge publicity coup for Romney in the country that is the USA’s long-standing major international military ally and partner to the ‘special relationship’, his photo-opportunity of a visit was completely overshadowed by his ill-judged comments which his entourage, (despite determined efforts to smooth things over), failed to brush under the carpet.
Romney came on to Israel to speak at a fund-raising dinner for which tickets had been available at a cost of no less than a staggering $50,000 each, but the dinner had to be rescheduled in embarrassing fashion for 24 hours later after it was suddenly realized that it was to be held on the Jewish fast day of Tisha b’Av, another gaffe that stole the headlines locally. That bloomer apart, Romney’s affirmation of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was very well received over here, as too was Romney’s pledge to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel on the troubling issue of Iran’s attempt to develop nuclear weapons.
Obama meanwhile, in what was perceived as a calculated move to steal the thunder in advance of Romney’s visit to Israel, on Friday sought to reassure Jewish voters at home and abroad that he has the best interests of the US’ closest ally in the Middle East at heart, signing the United States-Israel Enhanced Cooperation Act in a ceremony at the White House during which he also announced an additional $70 million for Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ defence
system.
In short, there is little doubt that both Obama and Romney see Israel as a significant factor in their respective presidential campaigns, both from the point of being seen to have genuine strengths on foreign policy, and also in trying to woo the significant Jewish vote in key states such as Florida. There will doubtless be plenty more focus on Israel, the Middle East, and the Iranian threat over the months to come, in what most experts believe could be one of the closest races for the White House for some years.
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