President George W. Bush has amazed me. Bush 41 the father was not particularly good on this issue. I do not believe that he is anti-Semitic but his secretary of state James Baker perhaps summed up the attitude prevailing in that administration when he said [expletive] the Jews. They don’t vote for us anyway.
Bush 43 the son has fallen far from that tree. I believe most Jewish leaders will concede that of all U.S. presidents Bush 43 has been the most supportive and protective of the security of the State of Israel.
Among the condemnations I have received for supporting President Bush was the following letter:
Mr. Koch. I am Jewish. I had the displeasure of hearing you say you will vote for Dubya Bush in November. I turned off the program after that because of Israel. I’d like to remind you this election is for President of the U.S. not for the leaders of Israel. I could give you 100’s of reasons to not vote for Bush but you’ve already become a turncoat.
I responded as follows:
Jews have priorities and are entitled to them just like every other ethnic group in America. Mexican-Americans are especially interested in the position of the presidential candidates on amnesty for illegal aliens. African-Americans are understandably interested in the safety of Africans in the Sudan who are subject to genocide at the hands of the Arab-dominated Sudanese government. Christians surely will be very concerned about the murders and injuries of Christians attending Mass in Iraq at five churches by Islamic terrorists. I could list many more. All Americans should be concerned about these outrages. Having such priorities does not make you less American but more American. For Jews it is the security of the State of Israel. When 200 French Jews recently left France out of fear of persecution by Muslim toughs in that country they knew that Israel would take them without condition which was not the case when Jews were fleeing Germany before World War II.
However you are misinformed on my position as to why I support President Bush for reelection. I support him because of the Bush Doctrine – We will go after the terrorists and the countries that harbor them. He has demonstrated that he means it by invading Afghanistan and Iraq both threats to their regions and to the U.S. I do not believe that the Democratic Party which is now dominated by those who preferred Governor Dean for president but decided he could not win has the stomach to take on worldwide terrorism. Indeed a New York Times-CBS poll of the delegates at the Boston Convention demonstrated their opposition to John Kerry’s position which is not to get out of Iraq now. It is the party activists whom the candidate has to rely on to get elected and whose positions generally prevail.
I have held public office for 23 years. I was elected five times as congressman and three times as mayor with super majorities after the first election for each office. New Yorkers trusted my insights and common sense and I believe they still do. The Islamic terrorists in the words of Lee Hamilton ‘want to kill us ‘ and there are hundreds of millions of them. I want a president who is willing to go after them before they have the chance to kill us.
There is nothing wrong with American Jews concerned for the safety of all Americans to be grateful that President Bush supports the State of Israel when European states in fear of terrorism capitulate to the demands of the terrorists and are hostile to Israel.
