If that is the case then why did Israelis contact relatives in the States and urge them to vote for obama?
The story that I heard was that young American liberal Jews contacted their grandparents in Florida and urged them fervently to vote the liberal ticket (Obama). American Jews seem in denial. Liberal is regarded as “smart” by those “in the know” who consider themselves elites.
Americans in Israel voted 78% for McCain.
That never happened to any large extent! Polls done among Israelis showed McCain significantly ahead of Obama as their choice for the US presidency - one of the very few foreign countries in the world where that was true. Furthermore, among Americans in Israel actually voting in the US presidential election by absentee ballot, exit polling showed McCain with about a 3 to 1 margin over "Osama" Obama.