Support for Jews, Israelites, all people translates into support for Obama
“If you trust my judgment, vote for President Obama. I look forward to voting for our president in November, and I hope you will, too.”
NO ED KOCH I DON’T TRUST YOUR JUDGEMENT AT ALL AND THIS COLUMN VITIATES ANYTHING GOOD YOU’VE EVER DONE…..SHAME ON YOU…BUT THEN AGAIN I REMEMBER YOUR STATEMENT IN 1980…” I AM GOING TO HOLD MY NOSE AND VOTE FOR CARTER”…..RSK
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/fl-guest-koch-wed0801-20120803,0,1235882.story
In an effort to establish his qualifications to be president of the United States, Gov. Mitt Romneyrecently visited England, Israel and Poland, and there is now an added interest in the views of the presidential candidates on Israel.
Last year, I criticized President Barack Obama after he urged the Palestinian Authority and Israel to resume negotiations and stated that Israel should use the 1967 boundaries, with mutually agreed-upon land swaps, as a template for drawing the lines for the new Palestinian state. Wanting to send the president a message of opposition to this stance, I supported a Republican candidate in a special congressional election, and he won.
I am now often asked why I am supporting the president’s reelection.
In his first presidential race, President Obama received 74 percent of the Jewish vote. Last year, it looked like those numbers might be significantly lower in 2012. However, as last Friday’s Gallup poll illustrates, the president’s numbers in the Jewish community have almost completely rebounded. Maybe other Jewish voters have seen in the president what I have seen.
I believe the president heard the Jewish community’s concerns. His actions, certainly for me, verify that fact. His speech at the United Nations supporting Israel was the strongest statement of its kind ever made by a U.S. president. Even more important was his personal, and successful, involvement at the Security Council preventing the Palestinian Authority from gaining entry to the United Nations as an independent state. That action was clear, unambiguous evidence of his commitment to the Jewish state. His urging of the Israelis and Palestinians to engage in negotiations without preconditions was extremely important, and his reiterating and demanding that Hamas give up violence, recognize the legality of the state of Israel and all prior agreements, showed real leadership.
The statement of Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak about the cooperation between Israel and the United States on intelligence gathering and military supplies provided by the United State to Israel was the best ever in the long relationship between the two countries. That, too, was clear evidence of President Obama’s commitment to Israel.
Further, President Obama’s leading the U.N. Security Council to take much harsher sanctions against Iran and make clear that the United States was committed to preventing Iran from developing a nuclear bomb – not simply to a policy of containment – made clear to me his absolute commitment to the security and defense of the State of Israel.
I have no intention of attacking Gov. Romney or the Republican Party for their support of the State of Israel. In fact, I commend them for it. I believe both presidential candidates and parties are committed to standing with Israel if it were to be attacked by Iran. As a Jew and a supporter of that state, I am grateful.