Jew World Order

On the issue of a Palestinian state, he asserted that the question “is not whether the people of the region believe that there should be a Palestinian state. The question is if they believe there should be an Israeli state, a Jewish state.”

Netanyahu has long maintained that Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state must be part of any peace accord.

On Iran, Romney supporters assert that their candidate is committed to vigorous action to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

But Romney’s statement to Haaretz — that if all other measures fail, a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities “should not be ruled out” and that he is committed “to take every step necessary to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability” — echoed similar statements by Obama.  

In fact, Romney’s stance on Israel is not likely to differ dramatically from the administration’s, said Shlomo Avineri, professor of political science at the  Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

“On some very substantive issues, there is very deep cooperation with the Obama administration, and there are Israelis who will tell you that there has never been that kind of cooperation before,” Avineri said.“If Romney will try to distance himself, it will be on Iran and possibly on the settlements, but it will mainly be about atmospherics, just as atmospherics is a major issue between Netanyahu and Obama.”  

Hillel Schenker, vice chair of Democrats Abroad-Israel , agreed. “I haven’t seen any indication of readiness to take any positions which are different from what have been essentially bipartisan Republican and Democratic positions,” he said. “Historically, there has never been a Republican president ready to accept the legitimacy of the settlements, and on Iran he’s saying the same thing Obama is saying. I see a lot of posturing.”

Romney is “trying to do something that is simply not doable,” Schenker said, noting that for decades American Jews have voted heavily for Democratic presidential candidates. “This will not make the difference that he’s looking for.”  

Despite his cool relationship with Obama, Netanyahu has avoided taking sides ahead of Romney’s visit, refusing in recent interviews on two U.S. television networks to be drawn into evaluating the Republican candidate. 

“I will receive Mitt Romney with the same openness that I received another presidential candidate, then-Senator Barack Obama, when he came almost four years ago, almost the same time in the campaign, to Israel,” Netanyahu told “Fox News on Sunday” this week. “We — Israel has — enjoys bipartisan support, both Democrats and Republicans, and we extend bipartisan hospitality to both Democrats and Republicans.”