Romney, Gingrich court Jewish support with barbs at Obama’s policies

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Source: Washington Post

The Republican presidential front-runners used appearances before a conservative Jewish audience Wednesday to criticize President Obama’s foreign policy as weak and confused, while pledging to strengthen the U.S. alliance with Israel should they be elected.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney told a forum hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition that his first foreign trip as president would be to Israel. A few hours later, former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) promised to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — claimed by Israelis and Palestinians both as their capital.

Wednesday’s forum represented an explicit challenge to Obama and the traditional Jewish support for Democratic candidates. Republicans believe that there is an opportunity to peel away some of Obama’s Jewish support, particularly by attacking his policies toward Israel. Obama has argued that he has consistently supported Israel’s security needs and political interests, including his opposition to the Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations earlier this year.

Obama’s poll numbers among Jews have remained stable throughout the fall, hovering above his overall ratings nationally. In the latest Gallup poll, 51 percent of Jews approved of the way Obama is handling his job and 42 percent disapproved. But those numbers mark the lowest ratings of the president’s term among Jews.

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