The former ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk of Brookings, told CNN that it was a shame the tragedy was being used as a political football and that it was not appropriate.

BBC: Romney's Libyan gamble

Romney's stance is "almost identical" to Obama's position, which seeks increased international pressure on Iran while keeping a military option "on the table, " noted Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Clinton administration who now is foreign policy director at the Brookings Institution.

CNN: Romney talks tough but differs little from Obama on Iran

"He's neither pro-Israeli nor pro-Palestinian, " Martin S. Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, told The New York Times.

CNN: Mitchell will make a seasoned Mideast envoy