Mitt Romney speaking at the 2012 CPAC convention. Photo: wiki commons.

Israel deserves better treatment than it received during the term of U.S. President Barack Obama, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney told Israel Hayom in an interview ahead of his visit to Israel. “I would treat Israel like the friend and ally it is,” he said. “We share not only common interests, but also common values.”

“I cannot imagine going to the United Nations, as Obama did, and criticizing Israel in front of the world,” Romney said. “You don’t criticize your allies in public to achieve the applause of your foes.”

The former governor of Massachusetts vowed that if elected president in November, he would conduct his disagreements with Israel, should any arise, in private, out of the public eye. “If there were places where we disagree, I would hold these disagreements in private conversations, not in public forums,” he said.

Read Israel Hayom’s full interview with Romney here.