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.