Analysts: Israel remarks could cost Obama

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's endorsement of Israel's 1967 borders could cost him support next year among Jewish and pro-Israel voters, political analysts and activists said Friday.

And not only Republicans, but also Democrats, especially those who expressed misgivings about Obama's commitment to Israel as he campaigned for the White House in 2008.

"A lot of Democrats are not going to agree with this, and a lot of Democrats are not going to be Democratic in the voting booth," said New York political strategist Hank Sheinkopf.

"It will create fear and anxiety," he said, especially for Jewish voters older than 50 who remember the Six Day War in 1967, which showed the difficulty of defending Israel's borders.

After Obama's speech Thursday, Stony Brook political-scientist Matthew Lebo posted on his Facebook page: "Did a million Jews turn Republican today?"

That might be an exaggeration, Lebo said, but "politically and electorally it does the president absolutely no good."

Obama's speech provided fodder for political attacks as some GOP lawmakers and presidential hopefuls accused Obama of "throwing Israel under the bus."

Yet Obama might also not gain much from voters who aren't Israel supporters. Haris Tarin of the Muslim Public Affairs Council said Obama's line on the borders won't have a large effect on Muslim American voters because it's been talked about by earlier presidents and likely won't be acted on before the 2012 election.

Still, the speech's impact on voters over the next 18 months also will depend on who runs as the GOP presidential candidate and what other actions Obama takes on Israel, Sheinkopf and other analysts said.

But the president had his defenders.

Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Roslyn Heights) called Obama's address "a strongly pro-Israel speech" that the savvy pro-Israel community would appreciate.

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the issue was being overblown, and that Obama had explained what he meant.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday that the controversial line in Obama's speech has been misinterpreted.

Obama stated a long-held U.S. position that the 1967 Israel borders, with swaps of territory, is a starting point in the Mideast peace talks, he said.

Democratic Reps. Steve Israel, of Dix Hills, Anthony Weiner, of Queens, and Eliot Engel, of the Bronx -- all of whom are Jewish -- distanced themselves from that line on Friday.

"I disagreed with that element of the speech," Israel said when asked at an airport tower dedication on Long Island.

The Obama presidential campaign did not reply to a query.

With Sarah Crichton