Obama Signs Israel Bill Ahead of High-Profile Romney Visit

Did Signing Steal Mitt's Thunder in Courting Israeli Support

With very little in the way of issues being talked about so far in the presidential campaign, President Barack Obama and former Governor Mitt Romney seem to be centering their foreign policy debate on who can more successfully suck up to Israel.

So with Mitt Romney just one day away from a very high-profile visit to Israel, President Obama’s heavily publicized signing of a new bill promising more funding for Israel is taking on a political feel.

Israeli officials were even quoted in their own press yesterday as saying that the White House had timed the signing explicitly to “counterweight” Romney’s visit. Surrounded by US Jewish leaders, Obama promised at the signing an “unshakeable commitment” to Israel.

Romney will make several visits to Israeli leaders while in the country. Shortly thereafter, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will visit Israel as well to discuss “tensions” in Syria.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.