NEW YORK: I believe Barack Obama is a strong but not uncritical supporter of Israel. That is what the Middle East needs from an American leader: the balance implied by a two-state solution.
Yet it's a tough position for Obama to hold in this presidential campaign because his Jewish credentials are under intense scrutiny.
On Jan. 22, with Gaza sealed and the suffering of Palestinians prompting calls for a UN Security Council statement deploring their plight, Obama wrote a strongly worded letter of support for Israel.
"The Security Council should clearly and unequivocally condemn the rocket attacks against Israel, and should make clear that Israel has a right to defend itself against such actions," Obama wrote to Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Otherwise, he urged, it should not speak at all.
The Security Council remained silent; Obama's …