Barack Obama was a distinguished poker player: As a high school student in Hawaii, he would sit at street corners and defeat anyone who played against him. He did the same during his college days in California: He would walk around the dorms holding a whiskey bottle and a deck of cards, looking for players who would challenge him.

However, all his gambling talents did not help him make the required campaign decision: He did not visit Israel as a president, a fact that managed to anger many Jewish voters whose votes he now seeks, as well as quite a few Jewish donors whose wallets he now pursues.

His rival, Mitt Romney, did not think twice: Now, when the race is clearly a dead heat and the Jewish vote in the swing states may decide the election’s outcome, he decided to visit Jerusalem.

The Obama campaign headquarters in Chicago intends to closely monitor the visit: Will Romney go from Netanyahu to Peres, declaring that he is the only true friend of Israel? (Unlike Obama, whom Romney recently accused of “throwing Israel under the bus.”) Will this be the tone and style this time around as well?

At the Prime Minister’s Residence, Romney will find not only an Israeli leader but also an old friend: Romney and Netanyahu worked together in the late 1970s at a Boston consulting firm. They share political views and wealthy friends, and even though Romney isn’t Israeli one can say they’re like old army buddies.

Brilliant ploy

Romney carried out a brilliant political ploy: Like a skilled billiards player, he hit one ball to make the others rolls: A photo of his intimate dinner with the PM in Jerusalem that will be published in Florida and in Pennsylvania is worth more than a thousand words – among the Jews, and also among the Evangelicals, who thus far had trouble seeing the Republican candidate as one of their own or as conservative enough to represent them.

Romney does not have the record of a good player in the international theater, but Netanyahu will provide him with a sympathetic platform: He will flatter him, thank him for his friendship towards Israel, and even if he tries to maintain the required measure of caution as not to be seen as one who interferes in American politics, the festive, friendly meeting between the two is in fact a message.

Israel is not a central election issue here, but it made headlines in recent days, when Romney swore to the cameras that he will look into what Obama did vis-à-vis Israel, and should he be elected president he will do the exact same thing, only the opposite. This statement elicited a response, with the Obama campaign airing ads that disparage Romney and wonder whether he’ll be canceling the aid to Israel or calling off military cooperation; after all, he said he would do the opposite.

The decision to visit Israel in the midst of an election campaign is legitimate. Obama did it too, ahead of the 2008 campaign; he visited Yad Vashem and Sderot and even put on a kippa and placed a note at the Western Wall. However, at the time he was one of two candidates and not one running against a serving president.

The one playing with fire this time around is Netanyahu only: Should Romney become president, Bibi would be able to sit back and say that his bet succeeded. Should Obama win a second term in office, the cold shoulder he gave the Israeli PM thus far will turn into a huge iceberg.