U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer called President Obama a strong friend of Israel, right after the platform was amended to include Jersuelem as the capital of Israel and mention of the word “God.”

Here’s Schumer’s passage:

On foreign policy, President Obama has kept our nation safe from terrorism and restored our standing in the world. When it comes to one of our closest allies—Israel—President Obama has been resolute. The two biggest threats to Israel are the threat of Iranian nuclear weapons and the launching of Hezbollah rockets. No president in history has done more to confront these threats. This president has imposed the toughest sanctions ever on Iran, and provided record amounts of security aid to Israel.

The change to the platform — which angered members of the New York delegation who said they disagreed with the plank — was changed, reportedly at the personal behest of the president.

Still, GOP U.S. Senate candidate Wendy Long in criticizing Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand for the plank (Gillibrand told reporters this morning she disagreed with original statement).

Long’s statement:

“Sad is the only way to describe what happened tonight at the Democratic Convention in Charlotte. It took three roll calls for Kirsten Gillibrand and the Democrats to ram through the obvious, first an acknowledgement that ‘God’ belongs in their party platform and second that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.”

“Kirsten Gillibrand and the entire New York Democratic delegation owes New Yorkers an apology for this profoundly disturbing display.”

Here’s Schumer’s complete speech:

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