WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Ed Koch says he's now on the "Obama Reelection Express."

The former New York mayor told supporters in an e-mail Monday that he is backing the president in the wake of his pro-Israel speech last week at the United Nations, among other factors.

Koch credited his role in the Democrats' loss of this month's special congressional election in a heavily Jewish Democratic stronghold in New York City. Koch had urged voters to back the Republican candidate to send a message to President Obama, whom he accused of distancing himself from Israel.

"I believe the recent vote in the 9th Congressional District in New York affected in a positive way the policy of the U.S. on the Mideast," he wrote, noting the international community's endorsement last week of renewed talks without preconditions, a key Israeli demand. "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.'

"I’m now on board the Obama Reelection Express," Koch wrote.