Barak endorses Barack, touts US security support
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - July 31, 2012 - 12:00am

In what appears like a clear endorsement of a presidential candidate, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday night that Barack Obama has been the most supportive president on matters of Israeli security throughout the two countries' diplomatic relations. In an interview aired late Monday night on CNN, Barak told Wolf Blitzer that the Obama administration’s support of Israeli defense and intelligence establishments was far greater than under any other administration he remembered working with since and including President Jimmy Carter.

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Dennis Ross denies ‘split’ with Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
July 31, 2012 - 12:00am

Dennis Ross emphatically denied any indication that he no longer supported President Obama. "The idea of trying to get a sense that there is a split with the president is completely untrue," Ross, Obama's former top Iran adviser, told JTA on Tuesday. Ross repeated comments he made to the Daily Beast/Newsweek over the weekend, in which he said that his position as a counselor to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy -- an educational nonprofit subject to tax exemptions -- keeps him from directly advising campaigns.

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In Israel, Romney wows crowds but puzzles with grasp of Palestinian relationship
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In The Washington Post - July 31, 2012 - 12:00am

Touring U.S. allies this week in his first foreign trip as the likely Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney often appeared to be visiting just another set of swing states, pleasing audiences with parochial promises, puzzling others with off-the-cuff remarks, and raising loads and loads of money. Only the trip was designed to be more than that for a campaign playing catch-up — a chance to show that a former governor light on foreign policy qualifications could represent the United States abroad. On that, the verdict is still out.

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Romney the dunce
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
(Editorial) July 31, 2012 - 12:00am

For many onlookers around the world, it once would have seemed impossible for a U.S. politician to arise that was more ignorant than former President George W. Bush, but Mitt Romney’s recent international tour seems to have killed these hopes. Even before the Republican presidential candidate’s current trip, it appeared the ex-governor of Massachusetts was spending most of his time clarifying comments he or his staff had made the previous day.

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W. House: 'Scratching heads' from Romney on J'lem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - July 31, 2012 - 12:00am

White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Tuesday said that US Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's unqualified comments about Jerusalem as solely Israel's capital was causing many to "scratch their heads." Earnest further said that Romney would need to explain himself to the general public.

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Romney: US, Israel differences embolden enemies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
July 30, 2012 - 12:00am

Mitt Romney says any public differences between the United States and Israel only embolden adversaries. The U.S. presidential candidate says it is a "basic truth" that the United States and Israel will always stand together. Without mentioning the tensions between President Barack Obama and Israel's leaders, Romney suggested in a Jerusalem speech Sunday that the diplomatic differences only encourage Israel's enemies.

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Fayyad meets US presidential candidate Romney
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 30, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority prime minister Salam Fayyad met with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Sunday, PA spokesman Ghassan al-Khatib said. The former Massachusetts governor was in Jerusalem on the second leg of a trip to strengthen his foreign policy credentials in his race to unseat Obama. After talks with Israeli leaders, Romney met with Fayyad. He then visited the Western Wall, Judaism's most revered site.

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Romney Versus the World Bank
In Print by Hussein Ibish - The Daily Beast (Opinion) - July 30, 2012 - 12:00am

Republican candidate Mitt Romney's visit to Israel was marked by a series of largely boilerplate comments about the special relationship between the United States and Israel. And, like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he almost entirely avoided the question of peace and the two-state solution, preferring to focus on the threat posed by Iran's nuclear weapons. In his speech in Jerusalem, the word “Palestinian” did not once cross his lips.

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Mr. Romney Stumps in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) July 30, 2012 - 12:00am

Mitt Romney made a point of insisting that he would adhere to an unwritten rule and often violated rule about candidates not criticizing each other or contradicting American foreign policy on foreign soil. About the only effort he made to keep that promise during his stop in Israel was to avoid mentioning President Obama by name.

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Romney’s visit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Editorial) July 30, 2012 - 12:00am

There is no doubt that Mitt Romney is a great friend and supporter of Israel. During his short but significant visit to the country this week, the former Massachusetts governor said all the right things. He backed, inter alia, “any and all measures” to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons, Israel’s right to defend itself (adding “it is right for America to stand by you”) and its claim to Jerusalem as its capital – much to the chagrin of the Palestinians.

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