A new television advertisement released today by Mitt Romney's campaign promises that "Romney will be a different kind of president—a strong leader who stands by our allies."
The Emergency Committee for Israel has released its latest ad, anchored by this line: "Next year ... President Mitt Romney in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel." Watch here:
"What's the capital of Israel?," ECI asks in a press release accompanying the ad. "President Obama once knew. In 2008 he declared that 'Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided.'"
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.
Jerusalem Mitt Romney today strongly defended Israel’s right to act against the threat of an Iranian nuclear attack. And, while avoiding direct criticism of President Obama, he found a way to disagree with Obama’s approach to dealing with Israel.
The disagreement was subtle but clear. In a meeting with Jewish leaders in 2009, the president insisted the United States would have more influence with Arab countries in the Middle East if he put some “daylight,” at least diplomatically, between the United States and Israel.
THE WEEKLY STANDARD has been able to confirm reports that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney plans to be in Israel on Sunday, July 29. That day coincides on the Jewish calendar with the observance of the ninth day of the month of Av—Tisha B’Av, the fast day that commemorates the destruction of the first and second temples in Jerusalem.
The other day, on Jerusalem Day, the 45th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered the following remarks:
The State Department isn't sure whether Jerusalem is the capital city of the state of Israel. In fact, yesterday, spokesman Victoria Nuland was asked, "What is the capital of Israel?" She would not say.
The first flotilla in 2010 ended in a bloodbath on the high seas, when the Israeli navy intercepted Islamists and activists seeking to challenge Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. The second flotilla fizzled, when international lawyers prevented a second round of boats from embarking on another ill-fated mission in 2011.
Israel was one of the first nations to recognize and welcome as a new nation the Republic of South Sudan on July 9, 2011. It was not surprising then, that South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayaardit recently chose Israel for one of his first presidential visits.
On November 29th the Icelandic parliament voted to recognize Palestine as a state. Yesterday, a ceremony was held in Reykjavik in the presence of the Icelandic and PLO foreign ministers.
In the encounter between writer and city, there is a certain distance of perspective—neither blurringly close nor loftily Olympian—at which the urban subject comes into sharpest focus.
Quick question: According to the State Department, what nation is the city of Jerusalem in? If you answered Israel, you'd be wrong. The State Department just issued the following press release:
QUESTION: What is the State Department’s position regarding American persons born in Jerusalem who wish to have passports issued that indicate their place of birth as Israel?
There is never a shortage of Middle East peace plans, and another has recently been proposed by a set of Washington luminaries—some with considerable Middle East experience and some with none at all. This new plan, dated June 23 and published in the New York Review of Books, appears to be a reaction to President Obama’s speech at the State Department on May 19.
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