Oh Goody! Obama Campaign Promises He'll Visit Israel--If He's Re-Elected

Obama has been in office three and a half years, and he has had time to do more fundraisers than any other first-term American president, has probably played more rounds of golf than any other president since Dwight Eisenhower, and yet he has not had time to fit into his busy schedule even one trip to Israel
Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton to WABC Radio's Aaron Klein

Now we are told that Obama will be able to find time to visit Israel -- during his second term as president:“

We can expect him to visit Israel in a second term should he be elected," Colin Kahl, the former deputy assistant secretary of Defense for the Middle East, said on a conference call with reporters.

Does this announcement add any credence to Jennifer Rubin's theory that Obama team nervous about Romney overseas trip.


After all, Romney is bound to make a good impression on the trip and burnish his credentials in terms of foreign policy.

But of course, there is one specific part of Romney's trip that the Obama campaign is most concerned with:

The worst part of Romney’s trip, from Obama’s perspective, is that Romney is going to Israel, which Obama has not visited since his election. He memorably traveled to Cairo for his big speech but failed to stop by the Jewish state while he was in the “neighborhood.” The Obama team told reporters today that his not going to Israel in the first term was a “distraction,” but Obama would go to Israel in a second term. If it’s important to go then, why not do it in the first term? It’s a sore point with the Jewish community and with other pro-Israel Americans.

Politico notes another comment where Kahl attempted to dismiss Obama's failure to visit Israel:

Kahl pointed out that Ronald Reagan “never visited Israel and George W. Bush didn’t visit until the final year of his second term” and neither were criticized by Republicans for their travel itinerary.

True, but then again, were either Reagan or Bush nearly as antagonistic towards Israel and its leaders as Obama has been, both to Israel and to Netanyahu?



Technorati Tag: Israel and Obama and Election 2012.