Last Monday, two days before Mitt Romney departed for London, Israel, and Poland, the Obama campaign held a conference call with reporters in order to frame their opponent’s trip. “The bar really is whether or not Mitt Romney is finally ready to shed a little light on what appears to be the secrecy of his foreign policy plans,” said Robert Gibbs, an Obama surrogate. The campaign argued: Romney’s trip was going to be long on photo ops and short on substance because he is unable to articulate areas of genuine contrast with Obama’s foreign policy. 

Yet, in just 36 hours in Israel, Romney revealed two areas of sharp difference with Obama: Jerusalem and Iran. And those issues really serve as stand-ins for much bigger ones.