In the Arena

Koch and Israel

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Greg Sargent has an interesting post about Jewish Democratic money sticking with Obama, despite the concerted efforts of Bibi Netanyahu and the Republican party to distort his position on the Israel-Palestine peace negotiations. Obama is not in favor of a simple return to the 1967 borders; he is in favor of new, defensible–an important code word for Israelis–border based on the 1967 borders, with mutually agreed upon land swaps. There is, therefore, no change in U.S. policy. Over the weekend, a member of Netanhyahu’s staff confirmed this–Obama’s position, he says (inaccurately) was “clarified” in his AIPAC speech.

Ed Koch, the former New York mayor and one of my favorite all-time politicians, seems not to have gotten the message, as Sargent and Ben Smith have reported–and is threatening not to vote for Obama in 2012 because of this non-controversy. I’m reminded of one my favorite Koch sayings, “If you agree with me on 9 out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist.” But maybe this time, Ed, you need to see the psychiatrist…