AYOR Michael Bloomberg of New York barely had the strength to make an appearance at the Jewish Community Relations Council dinner at the Pierre Hotel.

"I just got done with a month’s worth of St. Patrick Day parades," he sighed. "The next holiday is Passover. The instructions for Passover are eat and recline. That makes more sense to me than walking through the Rockaways on cold and windy days."

JCRC president Janice W. Shorenstein and executive vice president Michael Miller presented awards to three personalities, including Wall Street Journal publisher Les Hinton who promptly joined the fray over Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

"Many voices were raised to pillory Israel for an alleged disproportionate measure in the fight against terrorism," Hinton said. "Actually Israel sets a higher standard as the Torah states in Exodus, chapter 23, verse 2: ‘You shall neither side with the mighty to do wrong nor show deference to the poor man in dispute.’

"The same standard from Exodus should apply equally to the Palestinians."

Hinton, who’s also CEO of Dow Jones & Company, added, "Israel’s surpassing strength is its standard of justice."

Richard Paul Richman whose Richman Group is the eighth largest apartment owner in the nation, and Eric R. Dinallo, superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department, were also honored.

Dinallo graciously thanked his co-honorees, including Hinton, "even while I’m still taking out the shrapnel from my backside from his editorials."