http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/ed-koch-endorses-obama-fighting-him-israel-policy-211313706.html Ed Koch endorses Obama after fighting him on Israel policy That was fast. Two weeks ago, former New York City mayor Ed Koch was citing President Obama's Israel policy as the reason why he crossed party lines (Koch has crossed them before) to endorse Republican Bob Turner in the special election in New York's 9th Congressional district election. Koch's decision, combined with similar sentiment in the district, helped to spark a nationwide debate about the president's standing with Jewish voters. Today, Koch endorsed Obama for president. "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," Koch wrote in a weekly email to supporters Tuesday. "I'm now on board the Obama Reelection Express." The New York Times' City Room blog reports that Obama's speech to the United Nations last Wednesday, in which the president did not voice support for the Palestinian bid for statehood, in addition to a special reception hosted by the president and First Lady, turned things around for Koch. "Whatever rift existed before-- and there was--that's gone," Koch told the Times.
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-popularity-israel-surges-u-n-speech-poll-082516135.html Obama popularity in Israel surges after U.N. speech: poll JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's popularity has risen sharply in Israel after he spoke out forcibly against a Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations last week, according to a poll published by the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. The poll found 54 percent of Jewish Israelis thought Obama's policy was favorable to Israel, while 19 percent said it was pro-Palestinian. A survey in May showed 12 percent thought U.S. policy was pro-Israel and 40 percent saw it as pro-Palestinian. The surge in popularity followed a September 21 speech by Obama at the United Nations in which he rejected a Palestinian quest for statehood recognition and detailed the persecution of the Jewish people through history. Obama's U.N. speech was hailed by Israeli politicians of all colors, while Palestinian leaders complained that he had ignored the plight of their people who have been striving for independence for decades. After taking office in 2009, Obama was criticized by many pro-Israeli groups for being too tough on Israel in his efforts to coerce the two sides back to the negotiating table. Recent polls in the U.S. media have said his popularity amongst U.S. Jewish voters -- traditionally loyal to the Democratic Party -- has slipped and the Republican party has been swift to brand Obama as anti-Israeli. Obama won the support of nearly 80 percent of Jewish voters in 2008, and a fall in this support in 2012 could jeopardize his re-election drive in battleground states like Florida and Pennsylvania, where Jewish voters are an important swing bloc. The Jerusalem Post said its poll surveyed 506 people and had a margin of error of 4.5 percent. (Writing by Maayan Lubell; editing by Crispian Balmer)