Even *if* that's true, how does it explain his antisemitism which goes back at least a decade more than that? Do you remember his comments on the eve of the first Gulf War -- especially about Israel's "amen corner" in Congress, as well as some other equally offensive claptrap?
Frankly, I can't explain it, but I'm probably the least likely person on FR to defend or figure out Pat Buchanan. He probably is anti-semitic. The fact he sides with the butchers in the Middle East, and distains the only democracy there (as well as our efforts to plant democracy in Iraq) inclines me to give Buchanan little slack.