Ed Koch Endorses Obama’s Reelection
Ed Koch says he’s now on the “Obama reelection express.”
The former New York mayor told supporters in an e-mail Monday that he is backing the president in the wake of his pro-Israel speech last week at the United Nations, among other factors.
Koch credited his role in the Democrats’ loss of this month’s special congressional election in a heavily Jewish Democtatic stronghold in New York City. Koch had urged voters to back the Republicans to send a message to President Obama, whom he accused of distancing himself from Israel.
“I believe the recent vote in the 9th Congressional District in New York affected in a positive way the policy of the U.S. on the Mideast,” he said, noting the international community’s endorsement last week of renewed talks without preconditions, a key Israeli demand. “The President should be praised for intervening with the Egyptian army to save the Israeli diplomatic personnel from physical assault and providing the Israeli military with bunker buster bombs, advanced military technology and providing military intelligence cooperation far exceeding his predecessors.’
“I’m now on board the Obama Reelection Express,” Koch said.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

