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Kurtzer endorses Obama

By · March 5, 2008

Daniel Kurtzer, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel, endorsed Barack Obama.

“The United States has suffered severe blows to our international credibility over the past seven years, which makes it harder to defend our own interests and protect key allies, like Israel,” Kurtzer said Sunday in Columbus, Ohio, on the eve of the state’s critical Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday.

“We desperately need a change of direction, and I believe Barack Obama is the candidate who can win in November and deliver on that promise of change,” he said.

Kurtzer, an Orthodox Jew, was appointed ambassador to Israel by President Bush in 2001 and served until 2005. Previously, he made history when President Bill Clinton made him the first Jew to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Egypt. He recently co-authored a book on how best to negotiate Middle East peace.

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