WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama this week stepped up a counterattack against Republican opponents levelling angry, politically fraught charges that he has shortchanged staunch US ally Israel’s security.

With an eye on the November 2012 elections, Republicans energized by Obama’s low popularity have slammed his Middle East policy, hoping to pump up Christian conservatives and erode Democrats’ usually strong support from Jewish voters.

And most of the Republican presidential candidates will gather in Washington Wednesday for a forum run by the Republican Jewish Coalition, where they are sure to court party activists with attacks on Obama’s approach to Israel.

It was not immediately clear how Republicans, who have accused Obama of asking too much of Israel and not enough of the Palestinians, would respond to US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s blunt demand on Friday that Israel “get to the damn table” for peace talks.

Israel responded by blaming the Palestinians. “To our regret the Palestinians are the ones who decided to boycott the negotiations,” Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told AFP.

Obama fired a preemptive shot this week during a campaign fundraiser in New York City, professing that “no ally is more important than the state of Israel” and trumpeting his commitment to help safeguard the Jewish state.

“I try not to pat myself too much on the back, but this administration has done more in terms of the security of the state of Israel than any previous administration,” the president told donors.

“And that’s not just our opinion, that’s the opinion of the Israeli government,” he said, citing intelligence cooperation and US help for the “Iron Dome” missile shield meant to thwart regular rocket attacks on Israel.

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