This morning, a small army of elected officials and Jewish advocates amassed on Second Avenue, not far from the United Nations, to press their case that Israel is completely justified in its forceful reaction to the rocket attacks against it. In New York City, of course, support for Israel is an almost universally acknowledged political principle with very few deviations. Indeed, so many elected officials crowded together that they had trouble squeezing into the allotted area.

Naturally, all four of the likely Democratic candidates for mayor were present and more than eager to burnish their foreign policy credentials in light of the burgeoning international controversy. In order to profess their unyielding belief in the righteousness of Israel’s military response in Gaza, each pol described personally visiting the Jewish State, three of them to the exact same small town. We decided to simply transcribe their remarks in the order that they spoke. Read More