Sam blogged earlier about Jeffrey Goldberg's interview with Barack Obama on the topic of Israel and the Jews. I think most punters reading the interview transcript would come away with the view that Obama has strong links with the American Jewish community and is rock-solid on Israel's security. But not everyone here is seeing the interview in the same light. For an illustration of the volatility of the presidential politics-Middle East policy compound, have a look at Marc Ambinder's round-up of some Republican responses to Obama's comments.