Dementia or Party Hack? Ed Koch Gets Fooled by Obama AGAIN!

Ed Koch former Mayor of NY used to be a "political hero"of mine because he would base his opinions/endorsements on what he thought was right or wrong with no regard to party.  That was the good old days. Today the Mayor acts the role of a  political hack, foolishly looking for a way to remain relevant by supporting his party's president right or wrong, even lying about Obama's positions.

For the first 3 years of the Obama presidency, Koch criticized the President, calling him out on his Anti-Israel policies. But now he is a supporter, saying :

"Going to foreign affairs and Israel in particular, where I am very concerned that I think Israel is in great danger, where I thought the president was not giving enough attention," Koch told WABC radio's Aaron Klein. "He’s changed. And I believe I had something to do with the change."

He added, "I think Obama has done a terrific job in the last six months in support of Israel. And I want to praise him and I want to reelect him."

Change? Not in this life. While it is true that Obama may have toned down his anti-Israel rhetoric in an attempt to regain the votes and donations from Israel supporters sitting on the sidelines so far this political season.  But Barack Obama has not changed his tune, just toned it down.  If he wins reelection and (as he told former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev) he has more flexibility to do what he wants, his one-sided pressure on the Jewish State will increase.

Please don't tell me about his work on Iran, look at the facts. While he has ramped up the pressure on Iran, he did so only after a long delay, did less than Congress wanted and in effect exempted China, Russia, and Turkey.

And who knows what damage the politically motivated release of information about Stuxnet and the Flame viruses (whose discovery by the Iranians the administration blamed on Israel in another leak).


Any toning down of Obama's anti-Israel rhetoric has more to do with the upcoming election than a change in position. And the former mayor fell for the same thing four year ago.

During the 2008 Democratic Party primary season Koch worried that a Barack Obama would not be a friend to Israel.

Hillary recently attempted to warn Iran that were it to launch nuclear weapons against Israel, the U.S. “would be able to totally obliterate them.” Hillary’s comments were totally in keeping with the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction which kept the Soviet Union at bay during the Cold War when it threatened its European neighbors and members of NATO.

Instead of joining Hillary in a similar warning to Iran, Senator Obama on “Meet The Press” criticized Hillary stating, “It’s language reflective of George Bush…This kind of language is not helpful.”

 Koch concluded:

We now know just how far Senator Obama is prepared to go to defend our friends and allies. It is not far enough.

Just four months later, without any change in Obama's positions,  Koch endorsed Barack Obama.

Then he went off to heavily Jewish states convincing many American Jews that Israel should not be an issue in this campaign because Obama and McCain were equal in their support of Israel. 

Once Obama was elected and proved to be horrible for America and Israel, Ed Koch became a leading critic of the POTUS and his anti-Israel policies. In March 2010 he wrote a commentary for the progressive Huffington post called Never Again Should We Be Silent.

Now, in my opinion, based on the actions and statements by President Obama and members of his administration, there is grave doubt among supporters of Israel that President Obama can be counted on to do what presidents before him did - protect our ally, Israel. The Arabs can lose countless wars and still come back because of their numbers. If Israel were to lose one, it would cease to exist.

In April 2010 Koch doubled-down, telling Neil Cavuto on Fox News;

"I have been a supporter of President Obama and went to Florida for him, urged Jews all over the country to vote for him saying that he would be just as good as John McCain on the security of Israel. I don't think it's true anymore," Koch told Fox News' Neil Cavuto.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got a chilly reception at the White House last week after Israel announced plans to build 1,600 new apartments for Jews in East Jerusalem during a visit from Vice President Biden. The announcement drew sharp condemnations from Washington and calls to cancel the construction plans – requests that Netanyahu says he will not heed.

Koch said he believes Obama "orchestrated" what happened in Israel.

"What they did is they wanted to make Israel into a pariah," he said. "It's outrageous in my judgment. "

Koch said he's shocked that Congress, which largely supports Israel hasn't "stood up and said to the president, 'you're wrong on this, Mr. President.'"

Koch went on to say the self-serving Chuck Schumer explained to him he wouldn't speak out against Obama's Israel positions publicly because he was working behind the scenes to get Obama to change is policy (it didn't work). The former mayor continued by saying Schumer promised to speak out against Obama publicly should he not change his policies (Schumer hasn't). He concluded by saying:

"I believe that the Obama administration is willing to throw Israel under the bus in order to please Muslim nations."

Koch was a big part of the GOP victory in the special election to replace Anthony Weiner in NY-9. Koch's reason for supporting the Republican Bob Turner was to send a message to President Obama.

If Jewish New Yorkers and others who support Israel were to turn away from the Democratic Party in that congressional election and elect the Republican candidate to Congress in 2011, it might very well cause President Obama to change his hostile position on the State of Israel and to reestablish the special relationship presidents before him had supported. His own reelection will be decided next year in 2012. The outcome of the 2011 congressional special election in the 9th Congressional District will certainly get his attention.

The former Mayor made this threat to the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave:

But if he doesn't read the tea leaves and change his position, you can be certain I will continue to bang my drum. I will campaign against him not only in New York, but in other parts of the country next year. I'll be loud and clear about what I believe. There are many Floridians who are concerned about the Obama administration's treatment of Israel, and Florida will be crucial to the President's reelection.

Apparently those words meant nothing! Even though I disagreed with many of his positions, Ed Koch was one of my political heroes. He seemed to be a different kind of politician--- one who put convictions in front of party affiliation. That was in his younger days...now he only cares about being relevant to his party...well that or he is suffering from the memory loss associated with dementia.