Romney's Tisha B'Av Appearance In Israel Emphasizes Wide Gap With Obama

I know that that there are those who would argue that in some ways America has become a safe refuge for the Jewish people, but if you’ve gone through the Holocaust, then that does not offer the same sense of confidence and security as the idea that the Jewish people can take care of themselves no matter what happens. That makes it a fundamentally just idea.
Obama in interview with Jeffrey Goldberg, On May 12, 2008

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America's strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied.
Obama in Cairo, June 4, 2009

It was not until September 23, 2010 did Obama finally, and briefly, say that Jews have a historic tie to Israel:

Israel is a sovereign state, and the historic homeland of the Jewish people.

It was not until then that Obama finally showed cognizance of the fact that the Jewish connection to Israel did not begin with the Holocaust, but that the ties was a deep and ongoing historical tie.

David Efune, editor of the Algemeiner, notes that Mitt Romney clearly and publicly recognizes and talks about that basic truth. That is why, as Efune points out, there is No Better Time for Mitt Romney to Visit Israel than Tisha Be’Av:

Among the most pivotal criticisms of President Obama’s Israel policy is his emphasizing of the Arab narrative regarding the Jewish connection to the Holy Land, which they claim began following the Holocaust.

...Mitt Romney however, opened his remarks in Israel by saying, "To step foot into Israel is to step foot into a nation that began with an ancient promise made in this land.” He continued, “It’s remarkable to consider how much adversity, over so great a span of time, is recalled by just one day on the calendar."

The difference is subtle but clear, Obama’s recollection of Jewish history is focused on the Holocaust and perhaps the relatively recent persecution of European Jewry. Romney’s recognition of Tisha Be’Av’s historical context as an ancient day in the Jewish calendar that remembers millennia of Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem, and aspiration for the city’s rebuilding, is integral.

Read the whole thing.

Romney clearly expresses other ideas that Obama has either avoided--or has completely backtracked on:

• Romney confirms Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel.
  
  
• Romney affirms that United States’ special relationship with Israel is based on both interests and shared values.
  
  
• Romney expresses that in its decisions,  Israel’s government is answerable only to its citizens.
  
  
• Romney supports Israel’s struggle in the new age battleground of ideas--something never acknowledged by Obama

Romney's statements are a breath of fresh air from Obama's tired repetitions and his taking credit from Bush for fulfilling pledges of military support that precede the Obama administration.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Mitt Romney and Election 2012.