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Romney vs. Obama East, especially Iran, are almost identical, the ‘music’ from Romney’s statements is markedly different from that emanating from Obama’s. The obviously good chemistry that Romney has with Netanyahu, compared to the frigid relationship between the Israeli leader and Obama, is further evidence of this,” said Mr. Ronen. “Daylight” Like many others, Mr. Romney has recalled that one of Mr. Obama’s early foreign policy goals was to put “daylight” between the US and Israel, a strategy geared to bringing the US closer to some of Israel’s enemies. In this view, if the US was seen as separate from Israel, the Islamists might no longer view Washington as their foe. The “daylight” strategy has not been mentioned recently by Mr. Obama. During the third debate with Mr, Romney, held in Boca Raton, Florida, Mr. Obama spoke about Israel and his admiration for the Jewish state eleven times. Along with Iran, China, and the recent catastrophe in Libya, Israel was the most dominant topic of the debate. According to pundit John Podhoretz, this was no accident.
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The Jewish Voice and Opinion
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“How he really feels about Israel isn’t the point. The point is the President wants people in the US to think he likes the Jewish State very, very, very much. He wants them to think he believes Israel is ‘our greatest ally in the region’ when only a few months ago he had described it merely as ‘one of our allies in the region.’ He wants them to think he’s responsible for ‘unprecedented military and intelligence cooperation’ with Israel when in fact he’s merely continued his predecessor’s policies,” said Mr. Podhoretz. Galling Incident An Englewood resident who viewed the debate but requested anonymity agreed. “Romney and Obama both want to appear pro-Israel, but Obama has a record of anti-Israel statements and actions. How could we forget his remarks to [then-French President Nicolas] Sarkozy that he, too, intensely disliked Netanyahu; or that he had publicly insisted that Israel retreat to the pre-1967, indefensible lines. He said he wanted to put ‘daylight’ between the US and Israel, and he certainly accomplished that,” he said. The Englewood viewer said
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he found it particularly galling that when the President publicly recognized countries that had given humanitarian aid to Haiti after its disastrous earthquake in 2010, the only country he failed to mention was Israel. In fact, Israel’s mobile hospital was the first foreign medical aid to arrive in Haiti and the Jewish state’s efforts for Haiti were exceeded only by those of the US. At the time, many pundits suggested the President acted as he did because none of the Arab countries had offered Haiti aid, and Mr. Obama feared a negative reaction from Arab and Muslim states if he were to praise Israel without lauding them, too. According to Mr. Podhoretz, Mr. Obama’s change of policy—if not change of heart— is due to the fact that “it appears certain that Obama will get the lowest share of the
Jewish vote for a Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1980.” Ad Campaign Few would suggest that Jews will not vote overwhelmingly for Mr. Obama. But some Republicans are making an aggressive attempt to win them over, especially in important swing states. Focusing on South Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Nevada, some of the Republican super PACs spent millions of dollars on both on-air and ground efforts to reach Jewish voters who are increasingly questioning Mr. Obama’s stance on relations with Israel. In South Florida, Republican-sponsored billboards on Interstate 95, aimed at Jewish voters in Boca Raton and Broward County, proclaimed “Obama…Oy Vey” followed by the question: “Had enough?”
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