Romney wants stronger relationship with Israel
Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney on Saturday told some 250 evangelical Christians who had gathered in a Washington hotel that the U.S. needed to forge stronger ties with Israel. He also reiterated that it was important to ensure Iran did not become a nuclear power.
“[I would] forge a strong working relationship with the leadership in Israel. I would make it very clear that for us, as well as for them, it is unacceptable for Iran to become a nuclear nation and that we’re prepared to take any and all action to keep that from happening,” Mr. Romney told the members of the Faith and Freedom Coalition via a video hookup. The former Massachusetts governor, who has just started a six-state bus tour, addressed the crowd from Pennsylvania.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney addressed members of the
Faith and Freedom Coalition on Saturday.
When asked how he would make sure that Washington and Jerusalem worked more closely together, Mr. Romney explained that his policies towards the Jewish State would be the complete opposite of President Barack Obama‘s.
“I think, by and large, you can just look at the things the president has done and do the opposite,” the former governor answered to laughter. Mr. Romney also told his audience that Mr. Obama seemed to be focusing his attention more on our ally Israel than on the Islamic republic.
“You look at his policies with regards to Iran. He’s almost sounded like he’s more frightened that Israel might take military action than he’s concerned that Iran might become nuclear,” he said.
In addition, the former governor highlighted the importance of Israel and the U.S. showing a united front, even if there are issues they do not fully agree on.
“I would not want to show a dime’s worth of distance between ourselves and our allies like Israel. If we have disagreements, you know, we can talk about them behind closed doors. But to the world, you show that we’re locked arm-in-arm,” Mr. Romney said.
With regard to Syria, the former governor stated that the president should be urging neighboring countries, such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, to supply those opposed to President Bashar al-Assad with weapons.
At the end of his 20-minute speech, Mr. Romney acknowledged that he badly needed the support of evangelical Christians in order to defeat Mr. Obama in November.
“One of the reasons I’m on this broadcast with you is that I desperately want to see you working hard, knocking on doors, calling friends, telling them what’s at stake,” he said.