Mitt Romney has triumphed in the Florida primary despite a campaign attacking his treatment of Holocaust survivors.

The former Massachusetts governor achieved 46 per cent of the vote, but Florida's winner-takes-all system means he has gathered 50 more delegates ahead of summer's Republican Convention.

Newt Gingrich's team has found a new tactic with which to challenge Mitt Romney as the Republican frontrunners gear up for the first presidential primary in which a large number of Jewish voters have a say.

As Florida prepares for the Republican primary on Tuesday, will the Jewish vote prove key to the outcome?

Steven L Abrams, Palm Beach county chairman for the Newt Gingrich campaign and an elected county commissioner, said: "In a close election like this one even a couple of per cent can make a difference."

Jews make up three per cent of the population in the Sunshine State, but because the

The man hoping to lead Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum to victory previously worked for a politician known for his "antisemitic, racist and anti-immigrant views".

Mr Santorum's campaign manager is Michael Biundo, who was one of the key figures in Pat Buchanan's ultimately unsuccessful presidential bid in 1996.

Ron Paul, one of the candidates vying for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, has met a representative from the extremist anti-Zionist group Neturei Karta.

Mr Paul, who has drawn criticism for a catalogue of controversial remarks about Israel and the Holocaust as well as race and homosexuality, shook hands with Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss at an event in New Hampshire.

A devout Catholic running for the Republican nomination might be an unlikely candidate for membership of a Jewish club.

But Rick Santorum, the latest presidential hopeful to surge in the polls, was apparently once part of a Jewish fraternity.

According to its website, as noticed by Tablet magazine, he was part of the Penn State university chapter of the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity.

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul has been facing criticism after a former staffer revealed the depth of his anti-Israel attitudes.

The most senior Jewish politician in US history has called on President Barack Obama to do more to challenge antisemitic attitudes amongst leaders in the Middle East.

US Republican presidential candidates last night battled over who could declare the strongest support for Israel, all pledging to strengthen the bond between the two countries.

Addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney said his first foreign trip as president would be to Israel.

Republican candidates will be vying for the attention of Jewish voters at a panel session today.

Although the Democratic Party has traditionally enjoyed the backing of much of the Jewish community, the Republicans are hoping that disillusion with President Obama will help secure new voters next November.

US presidential candidates Rick Perry and Mitt Romney have pitted themselves firmly against the Palestinian bid for statehood this week in remarks designed to encourage pro-Israel voters to support the Republican Party.

US presidential hopeful Rick Perry is hoping to cook up some Jewish support with a kosher reception this week.

According to the Politico website, the Texas governor's campaign team ha s organised an £1,600-a-head event for donors at a Manhattan hotel which will include a kosher menu.

New Yorkers made their thoughts on President Obama's administration clear this week as they handed a Republican candidate a victory in a seat which has been Democrat-run since the Prohibition era.