‘First Jewish President’: New York Mag Calls Obama ‘as Pro-Israel’ as the Prime Minister

President Bill Clinton was the first black president, but is President Barack Obama "the first Jewish president?"

While this startling insinuation isn't definitively made in the latest issue of New York Magazine, writer John Heilemann toes the line, claiming that Obama is the "best thing Israel has going for it right now." He writes:

The irony is that Obama—along with countless Israelis, members of the Jewish diaspora, and friends of Israel around the world—seems to grasp these realities [of returning to the 1967 borders] and this choice more readily than Netanyahu does. “The first Jewish president?” Maybe not. But certainly a president every bit as pro-Israel as the country’s own prime minister—and, if you look from the proper angle, maybe even more so.

Some, though, have been questioning for months Obama's allegiance to Israel. Strategist Dick Morris, for one has been warning about about an Obama-Jewish implosion for some time now. And last week, the Blaze covered the president's own recognition that he hasn't fared well among American Jews of late. As a result, he is desperately working to re-engage this important electoral cohort.

The New York magazine article, which comes after a major District 9 loss that is being seen by some as a repudiation of Obama's policies among American Jews, is being published at a curious time. Of course, it is important to note, as Mediaite's James Crugnale has, that Heilemann didn't flat-out call Obama the "first Jewish president." Crugnale writes:

The cover story‘s attention-grabbing, Toni Morrison-esque characterization of Obama as “The First Jewish President” comes from a quote by Abner Mikva, a White House counsel, who during the run-up to the last presidential election was quoted as saying, “When this all is over, people are going to say that Barack Obama is the first Jewish president.” While Heilemann thinks that prediction “has so far proved to be wildly over-optimistic,” he believes there is “more truth in it than meets the eye.”

Heilemann does make the claim though that "Obamans have never wavered in going balls-out for Israel," using the administration's most recent reaction to the Palestinians' bid for an official state recognition to back up his claims. Then, he continues:

Again and again, when Israel has been embroiled in international dustups—over its attack last year on a flotilla filled with activists headed from Turkey to Gaza, to cite but one example—the White House has had Israel’s back.

Read the article here and feel free to weigh in on the comments section.

(h/t The Blaze Blog)