White House rejects Romney barbs, touts Israel ties

In response to Republican's claims that Obama threw Israel under the bus, White House says cooperation greater than ever.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
The White House 311 (photo credit: Thinkstock/Imagebank)
The White House 311
(photo credit: Thinkstock/Imagebank)
The White House on Friday rejected Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's claims that US President Barack Obama had "thrown Israel under the bus."
When asked about the comments made by Romney at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney responded: " Under President Obama, cooperation with Israel between our military and intelligence communities has never been closer, assistance provided to Israel by the United States has never been greater than it has been under President Obama. We have an extremely close relationship with Israel, which is appropriate given our unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security."
Carney also responded to Romney's claims that the Obama administration had not done enough to prevent Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons. " It is the President’s firm commitment that we must prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon," Carney stated.
Carney said that Obama had succeeded in uniting the international community in efforts to pressure Iran through sanctions to forgo its nuclear ambition."The opportunity to achieve that goal remains available, that window remains open. But it is absolutely the case that that window will not remain open indefinitely," he said.
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While making his speech accepting the Republican nomination on Friday, Romney slammed Obama's Iran policy: "Every American is less secure today because he has failed to slow Iran’s nuclear threat...He said we should talk to Iran. We’re still talking, and Iran’s centrifuges are still spinning."
A Yediot Aharonot report on Friday suggested that Obama's Iran policy is also lacking in the eyes of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who reportedly got into a heated exchange with US Ambassador Dan Shapiro over the issue.
A source that participated in the meeting said that a particularly angry and stressed Netanyahu began a tirade against the US president, attacking him for not doing enough on Iran. "Instead of pressuring Iran in an effective way, Obama and his people are pressuring us not to attack the nuclear facilities," the source quoted Netanyahu as saying.
Angered about continued US rhetoric that diplomacy needs more time to work, Netanyahu said flatly: "Time has run out," Yediot reported.