Lancman's Advice for Obama's Middle East Visit

Assemblyman Rory Lancman of Queens has plenty of advice for Barack Obama about his upcoming trip to the Middle East, where Obama has said he will meet with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

Lancman, whose district includes a large Orthodox Jewish population, is in the habit of making his view on the Middle East clear. Last month, he delivered some unsolicited advice to Obama about Israel, and last fall, Lancman co-authored an op-ed with Ed Koch, endorsing Hillary Clinton's position on Iran.

At about the 3:20 mark, Lancman says what's important “for a person running for president of the United States-- because they’re not running for prime minister of Israel--is to show they have a commitment to defending the United States' interests vigorously.”

Lancman also says later that Obama should “speak very clearly to the Palestinian people that a state, a state of Palestine, is entirely within their own hands, and within their own doing.”

[Technical note: Lancman and I spoke via cell phone while he was in Dublin, and he recorded it with a video camera --so this is the first Politicker video shot without a Politicker cameraman in the room!]