Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, campaigning on Super Tuesday, addressed the American Israel Public Affairs this morning by satellite, both calling for a stronger U.S. posture toward Iran and vowing to be a better friend to Israel than President Obama if elected.
Under Obama, Romney argued, the administration created daylight between the U.S. and Israel, which made the Palestinians think they could avoid negotiations with Israel and seek statehood directly with the United Nations.
Recommended Stories
He said as president, he’d help the peace process by communicating to the Palestinians that “there’s not an inch of difference between U.S and Israel.”
But with uncertainty about the Palestinian leadership and throughout the Middle East, he compared talking about the peace process now to talking about “setting up a tent in the middle of a hurricane.”
He also said that he “would never call for a return to the 1967 lines.”
On Iran, Romney blasted Obama’s “naive outreach,” which he said merely bought the regime more time. Though Obama has emphasized Iran having a nuclear weapon as the red line for action, Romney sided with the Israelis in saying, “We must not let Iran have the bomb, or the capability to make a bomb.”
Gingrich was also firm, declaring that “The red line is now.” He said that as president, he would require no advanced notice from Israel if they chose to attack Iran, and would fully support their decision to do so.
During the rest of his address, he vowed that on the first day of his presidency he would sign an executive order to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem; talked about the need for energy independence; and blasted the Obama administration for imposing political correctness at the FBI, so that it no longer teaches about the true nature of radical Islam.
Though they both spoke by video, Romney’s speech was better staged than Gingrich’s. Romney was against a bright campaign backdrop and the sound was crisp, whereas Gingrich was up against a dark background and the sound was a little muffled.
Overall, on top of Santorum’s in person speech this morning, the three candidates communicated that any Republican administration (save one of Ron Paul), would seek to reverse the belligerent posture toward Israel that Obama has adopted for much of his presidency.
