A growing number of Americans, including politicians, are upset by United States President Barack Obama’s policies relating to Israel, according to former Israeli ambassador to America Yoram Ettinger, speaking to Arutz Sheva

Ettinger returned this week from a four-week trip to the U.S., where he visited nine cities and met with members of Congress and the Senate.

“There’s no doubt that there’s potential for a lot more support than we’re seeing today,” he opined. “In Jewish and Christian circles, but also in politics and the media, many struggle to understand the purpose of Israeli concessions and Israeli policy toward the Palestinians.”

“Likewise, most of those I met were upset with President Obama for not treating the state of Israel properly,” he added.

“There’s a growing appreciation for Israel. More people understand that the United States has one ally that is loyal, stable, and democratic,” Ettinger explained.

Obama’s upcoming visit to Israel will be highly instructive as to his approach to Mideast politics, Ettinger said. “The visit will show whether Obama decided to learn from history and not to repeat his mistakes from the past four years,” he said.

The other possibility, he continued, is that “he will again make the relationship with Israel dependent on the Palestinian issue, at a point when no Arab leader is discussing the Palestinian issue, and the Palestinian issue is not the heart of the problems in the Middle East or of anti-American terrorism.”

Regarding the growing cry to free Jonathan Pollard, Ettinger called to act carefully and quietly. “I find it hard to picture an American president coming [to Israel] with Pollard or acting publicly to free him,” he said. “The topic of Pollard is very sensitive in America, not because he’s Jewish but because of the spying.”

“I think it’s best to handle it far from the eye of the media,” he concluded.